Tai's little Secret Alternate
by Demino
Summary: AU, alternate version of Tai's little secret. After a seven year absence, Tai returns to Odaiba with his father. Only, this Tai got a deep secret, and just who is Taiko Aida?
1. Two new faces around town

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon, I never had nor will I ever likely end up owning it, so, basicly, it's not mine.

Summery: Au, Taichi Kamiya has just returned to Odaiba for the first time in seven years to start going to school there again, at the same time, a messy haired girl named Taiko Kamiya shows up. Looking so similar and yet claiming not to know the other one, both of them grabs the attention of the kids around the school for various reasonons. 

AN: Hiay everyone, this isn't the first time I write a story like this. Think of it as an alternate version of the first "Tai's Little secret" I wrote, it also doubles as an somewhat usable excuse for not writing the promised pair up endings I promised to write, for those who have waited this long for them, I'm sorry the promised endings haven't been written yet as I got distracted by just about everything else.

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Tai's Litttle Secret (Alternate)  
Part I  
Two new faces around town.  
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Odaiba. 7 years ago. 

The Judges room was a quiet and elegant room, giving whoever stepped into it a lot of warm and inviting feeling and a small idea that the one who had designed and built it years ago, had been suffering from a fondness for western designs. Sitting before a large wooden desk, a young women and a slightly older man were sitting quietly, a great deal of distance between their chairs and a look of anger over having to be so near the other as well. Sitting in chairs next to them, two elderly men holding a briefcase each were looking at the person behind the desk with a look of concern.

Looking up from his papers, the person know as Judge Daishi sighed as he put down the rather heavy files and took off his glasses to rub a small tissue over the lenses to calm down his rather strain patience over the case he was currently working on. Looking from the rather young women to the slightly older man he felt like shaking his head at what he saw. "Mr. Kamiya, Mrs. Aida." The words sent them both to full alertness as he stood up. "As you know, this is the final meeting in this case, and I must say that it has been one of the most difficult cases of divorce I have ever had to judge in" Standing up and motioning to the large stack of paper and photos on the table he shook his head. "You two have been fighting about everything in my court, from the money you had to the wallpaper on your walls, and the last matter is what I think was the worst." Noting that both of the people he was speaking too looked a bit shameful at the words, he sighed and sat back down in his chair. "Well, as much as I hate it, both of you can't support two children with your current income, so in agreement with local experts on this matter, I am giving custody of the oldest to Mr. Kamiya and the youngest one to you Mrs. Aida." Slamming a small hammer down on the block on his table, the man stood up and looked at them with a tired look. "That was all, your lawyers will help you fill out the forms, and try not to fight before the kids." Leaving through the side door, he didn't look back at them.

Glaring at each other, the man and woman stood up and walked over to the door, hateful glares on their faces as they stared at each other, their lawyers following behind them and going over the case with one another in a friendly way. Stopping right outside the door, the man turned and shot a dark look at the women. "About time, I can't believe he would leave Kari in your hands Yuuko."   
  
Glaring back at the man as he spat out the words, Yuuko could feel her own anger rising at him. "Just shut up Eisen." Walking down the hallway, she stopped and looked back over her shoulder. "And don't you dare try to keep me from seeing my little Tai." Walking faster down the hallway, she stopped to look at a small bench with the sleeping children on it. "Come on Kari, time to go home."

Looking up with a looks of complete tiredness, a four-year-old girl with short light brown hair matching her mothers yawned loudly and rubbed her hands over her eyes. Then, she lowed them and looked a bit more awake up at her mother. "Are we going home?"

Next to them, the man had reached down and shook the eight year old child to get it to wake up as well, failing this and earning nothing more then a loud yawn and the sight of the child turning over in its sleep, his eyes took a bit annoyed expression before reaching down and picking the child up. "Goodbye Yuuko, Kari." Turning, Eisan walked down the hallway, not looking back at the sudden cry of protest from his former wife.

Standing up in alarm, Yuuko reached out a hand in shock at the way her former husband had just refused to let Tai even speak to Kari or let her say goodbye to Tai. "Eisan, at least say something to Kari, let her have a last minute with Tai." Starting to move after him, she blinked as her lawyer reached out and stopped her from moving any further. "Let me go, I gotta say goodbye to my little Tai!"

On the bench behind her, the four year old Kari blinked at her mother's outburst and then looked after her father with a look of confusion on her face, her eyes staring more closely at the messy haired child who had just started to wake up at all the noise. "Mommy, where is daddy and Tai going?"

Looking back at her daughter, Yuuko sighed and sat down to hug her, her eyes letting out tears of pain and hurt as she tried to think of a way to stop Eisan from doing something stupid to them all. "They're going away, for a while, but don't worry, you'll see them again soon, I promise you."

  
***************   


7 years later.

Dropping his bowl into the sink and turning on the cold water, 15-year-old Taichi Kamiya stared at the sight of the remains of his breakfast swirling around before getting washed out through the drain hole in the sink, his eyes moving away from the sink to stare out the kitchen window of their apartment. "A new place, and a new home, but the same old tiresome secret."

Stepping past the doorway, a more older Eisan stopped to stare at his precious son staring out the window, an indifferent look on his face as he looked closer at the scene before he stepped further into the room and walked over to right behind the oldest child he had gotten from his blasted marriage with that wrench Yuuko. "Boy, Taichi!" Frowning, as he didn't respond, he reached out and pulled the brown haired boy around to face him, a blasted pair of brown eyes the color of Yuuko's looking right into his with a look of fear and confusion. "Boy, sit down."

Scrambling to sit down in the chair, Taichi looked across the table and right his father's eyes as the older man sat down in the only other chair in the place, his eyes closed as if he was deeply thinking about something. "Taichi, can you remember what we talked about?" The tone in the voice left no mistake that unless he got the right answer to his question; something was going to end up broken or hurt.

Taking a deep breath, Tai lifted his head up and looked at the stern face across the table, the light brown eyes daring him to say something wrong, anything to prove that he was a failure. "Stay to myself in school, work hard and only answer the others when I'm spoken too." Closing his eyes the hated words he had just repeated, he almost shook with anger over things being this way.

Nodding to himself, Eisan stood up and pushed his chair back to where it had been before, his eyes showing no emotion but a deep annoyance at something, what it was Tai had no idea about, but it still seemed to bother him. After a few tense seconds, he turned to stare right into his son's eyes. "Stay out of trouble, I don't want a repeat of what happened in Nerima you hear." Watching as his son nodded, he waved his hand at the door behind him. "Now get out here, School starts in less then an hour." 

Nodding in replay, Tai took the chance to escape and rushed over to pick up his book bag, forgoing the school uniform, as he still didn't have one yet. Instead, he would have to settle for a baggy blue shirt and black pants, his trademarked worn out sneakers and the trusted goggles he had gotten two years ago from two very close friends. "Daisuke, Jun, I miss you two so much." Sighing deeply at the pain in his heart from missing two rather good friends, Tai stood up from tying his sneakers and unlocked the door. "Later pops."

Not waiting for a response to the hasty farewell, Tai brushed out the door and breathed out deeply in relief of getting away from his rather distrusting and control freak of an old man. It hadn't been easy living for the last seven years, still, right now he was all he had, and for all the old mans faults, he was still able to put a roof over their head and provide them with a daily meal.

Stopping as he reached the elevator, he lifted up his head and eyes from staring at the floor and looked at the rather boring metal door before reaching out and punching in the button to get the damn thing moving. Waiting and tapping his foot in annoyance, Tai gave a groan of frustration and stared as the white numbers began to count upwards at last, the faint sound of the metal box starting to climb all the way up from somewhere down in the building, still, with the speed it was moving with, he could feel himself losing his patience, he didn't want to be there, he didn't want to go to a new school, he wanted to go back to Daisuke and Jun, be a part of the group again, no matter how bizarre it had been. 

"Oh, you're the new kid?"

Snapping out of his daydream and turning around in shock, Tai stared at the surprised girl standing right behind him, her caramel colored eyes staring at him in a look of curiosity as she held her school bag in front of her. The most noticeable thing about her was the pink hair with the darker red stripes through it. Other then that, she was wearing the same awful green colored uniform as he was, well, a t least he would have a chance of finding the school before the first class started, no matter how much he didn't want too. "Yeah." almost spitting out the answer at her and regretting it as soon as he saw her eyes cross and the sound of a huff could be heard.

Crossing her arms while glaring at the messy haired boy, the pink haired girl turned her eyes away from him and settled for staring at the elevator door, well, if he was going to be a jerk, then it was fine by her. "Hmph." Stepping up to stand next to him and not behind him, she did take at least two steps to the side to show that she didn't know him, and had no intention of doing so. 

Eyes narrowing at her behavior towards him, the messy haired boy frowned as he refocused on the glowing display above the silver color metallic doors, the light taking a whole year to move from one number to the next. "Come on." Growling out the words, he repressed the urge to kick the damn elevator for taking so damn long, well at leas tit was only two floors before he could get on. Slowly moving his eyes away form the door, Tai settled for staring at the girl standing slightly angrily next to him, okay she was standing a bit away from him. Hmm, not bad looking. {Gah, bad Tai, no ogling the angry girl, don't want a slap, still it couldn't hurt to just look at her.} "Stop staring at her you idiot."

Eyes and head moving around rapidly at the words, she caught the messy haired boy as he snapped his head around to look at the metal doors like he had passion for it. Smirking a bit, she slowly took a step to the side, grinning as she notice him getting a bit uncomfortable. "Hi, I'm Mimi, Mimi Tachikawa, I live across from your place."

Gulping a bit, Tai mentally slapped himself silly and alternating between willing the elevator to hurry up, and forming an answer to her introduction, sadly, since he had to try an do both things with a brain already halfway to meltdown from his rather jumbled thoughts earlier, he settled for just blurting out the first thing. "Uh, um, well, I'm Taik..." Stopping in the last second, Tai stared around the hallway before getting his thoughts back under control. " I mean I'm uhh... nice to meet you Mimi." Looking up as a loud ding alerted them to the elevator finally arriving, he stepped forward, even before the door had fully opened. "Oh look, sorry, I have to go, bye." Hammering in the button for the ground floor, he watched the rather confused look on Mimi's face.

Left behind in the hallway, Mimi wondered what had just happened, she was used to guys going short of crazy around her, even having trouble talking when she flirted with them, but. Eyes growing wide, she felt her thoughts focus on one thing as the elevator doors closed before her. "Hey, wait up." Kicking out to make him reopen the door, she gave a loud yelp as the sound of a soft sneaker meeting hard metal in a head on collision sounded throughout the hallway. "Ow!!" Stopping with her little dance of pain when the throbbing in her foot died down, she looked up to see the numbers counting downwards slowly. "You jerk, you could at least have held it for me." 

Inside the elevator, Tai leaned back on the wall and closed his eyes, willing himself to calm down, it wouldn't do to blow his cover on the first day, there was no telling how the kids around here would react to his little secret. It had almost a pure hell when it was found out on the last school, the only thing that saved it was his friendship with his friends. "Get over it Tai, it's in the past, you're back in Odaiba like you have wished for in the last four years." Looking up from his brooding, he shot a smile at the ceiling. "Maybe, maybe she's still here after all this time." 

  
***************  


The school looked just like his last one, a concrete nightmare of boredom, the same boring gray walls, the same four to five identical floors of classrooms painted in the same monotone color. In fact, if it wasn't for the sign outside on the wall, he would have thought himself back in the Nerima ward again, the only difference being in the lack of two good and close friends to walk with, talk with and just hang out with. 

Stepping in through the gate, his eyes traveled over the grounds in the front, spotting the different groups of kids one could always find in a school like this, over there were the snobby kids, near the sports field were the jocks and sports fans, mostly the jocks if it really was anything like his old school.

Passing a group of girls standing under of the few trees on the ground, he gave them a short and quick look over, the few who noticed smiling back at him before returning to the local rumor mill. Great, at this rate everyone would know what he looked like, where he had come from and what he had been doing before coming here, and most likely, ninety percent of it would be completely wrong. Looking forward instead of staring down at the asphalt covering the ground, he looked up to see the anti social kids hanging out around the main doors of the school.

The inside of the building was just a dull as it had been on the outside, and endless corridor with windows on one side and classrooms on the other stretched out on both side of the doors, students were walking down through them or entering the classrooms. "Great, I found the school, now I just need to find the principals office." Looking around the corridor hoping to spot a sign or a map, he was close to Giving up when he spotted a short red haired boy walking out of a room nearby, a laptop strapped to his back. "Hey, you!" 

The boy looked up as Tai yelled at him while walking closer to him, the shout having gained a few half caring stares from the other students in the corridor. "Uh, me?" The answer sounded rather stupid when he thought about it afterwards, it was clear from the way this boy was walking towards him, and the fact that everyone was looking at him, that it was in fact him the boy had shouted at, and from the way he moved towards him, things where going to take a turn towards the painful part shortly. "So, uh, what do you with me?" Firing of the question in a tense way, the boy lined up to get a better chance at escaping the beating that looked like it was coming. 

Tai blinked at the tense question form the boy before him, and then his mind registered how it might look to everyone else. A taller kid, with a slight athletic build, yelling at a shorter student who clearly seemed to belong in the science or computer club, it was a scene out of school movie, with him as the bully about to beat the stuffing out of the local geek. Feeling like smacking himself for making such a great impression on a fellow student on the first day, Tai waved his hands in a non-threating manner. "Ah, I was kind of hoping, you could tell me where the I could find the principals office." 

The red haired boy stared at him for a few seconds, the fact that the conversation hadn't really opened with the standard. "I'm gonna pound your face in geek if you don't tell me what I want to know." remark still hadn't fully reached his mind yet, but when it did, it brought out a highly intelligent response. "Huh?" and an equally intelligent look to follow that response.

Stepping a bit further to the boy, Tai moved a hand free from his pants pocket, reaching it out to the boy before him, politely ignoring the fish like expression he was getting from the red head after his question. "Sorry, I'm Taichi Kamiya, I', new and I'm looking for the principles office." Giving his famed and standard smile to the boy, he waited for a better response then what he had gotten so far.

Staring down at the hand, the boy finally closed his mouth and reached out to shake the messy haired boy's hand, constantly waiting for the moment when the boy would laugh at him and punch his daylight out. As he pulled back form the hand, he noticed the boy getting a slight frown on his face. "What, oh." Mentally smacking him, the red head lifted a hand and pointed to the left. "That way, up the stairs to the third floor, it's the sixth room to the right of the stairs."

Tai nodded and turned around to leave, stopping to look back over his shoulder. "Thanks..."

The red head nodded as he turned around to leave as well. "Koushiro Izumi, and it was no problem." 

Walking off, Tai shook his head as he mentally decided to try and put on a more friendly way of getting in contact with people around the place, first that girl Mimi and now this Koushiro. At the rate he was going, he wouldn't have to worry about finding friends at this place, cause everyone would be chased away by his attitude. "Geez, Lighten up Kamiya, you can do it, you made friends with Davis and Jun, or was it the other way around?"

The trip up the stairs offered no changes in the building, the next floor looked basically so much like the last one he had passed, that the only way to tell them apart was the small sign telling him that he reached first the second floor then the third floor one. Turning to the right, he walked down the less crowed corridor, shooting a quick look out the windows, eyes roaming over the buildings and the city beyond the school grounds. "Geeez, everything is much bigger then they did back in Nerima."

Returning to his current task, Tai walked down the corridor casting a look on the signs above the doors lining it. Stopping when he reached the door with the word principal on it. Knocking on it, he waited until a voice told him to enter the room. Pushing open the door he stepped inside and spotted a male secretary sitting behind the desk going over some papers, something that had Tai blinking forma moments confusion. He hadn't been to a school yet where there was a male secretary working.

Not looking up from his work, the man pointed at a bright orange plastic chair in front of his desk, the color sending a shiver down Tai spine as he sat down, the thing were so ugly even he had to admit he didn't like it, not to mention it wasn't built to sitting in, the seat was to uncomfortable and the back part groaned loudly when he tried to lean back against it. "Yes, how may I help you?"

Tai shook himself out of his thoughts and reached into his book bag, pulling out the papers and handing them over to the man who took them without looking up from the ones he already had. "Uh, I'm Taichi Kamiya, I'm new at the school." Tai added as the papers were placed on the desk and giving just a quick look at the front of them to make sure they were still the right ones.

Nodding and handing the papers back, the man finally looked away from his papers and reached into a desk drawer. "Yes, yes, the one who transferred from the Nerima District right." Pulling out some more papers, he placed them on the desk and began to go over them. "This is your class schedule, this is your locker number and code, please keep it to yourself, you lose the code you pay for a new lock." Holding out a small ID card with another piece of paper, he reached back and held out a pencil as well. "Here, sign the card and form for your student ID card." A colored picture landed on the desk next, a list of number on the side of it and the same numbers on the different drawing on it. "Your map of the school. And finally" Dumping the last stack of papers on the desk, he grinned darkly over the desk. "The list of the different clubs the school has to offer, you will be given a week to study them before choosing one, that is, if you want to be a part of a club."

Taking the large pile of papers from the table and dropping it in his bag, Tai looked up as the man stood up and held a hand out over the desk, the same grin back in his eyes. "Welcome to Odaiba high school Mr. Kamiya, hope you enjoy your stay." Shaking Tai's hand briefly, he nodded and reached out for the phone that was dug out from under a pile of papers. "If you will just wait here for a minute, I'll get the teacher to come and get you."

Waiting wasn't his best point, but still, it did beat trying to find the place on his own, even if he did have a map to guide him around the place with. Staring at the tacky watch on the wall, he sighed as the one minute became two, then five and finally a freaking ten minute wait before the door finally opened up followed by the entrance of a teacher.

Staring at her, Tai noted that she was rather average looking, reddish hair that reached the middle of her back, a simple dress and shirt jacket in a pale green color with white flowers on it, and a mixture of red and brown eyes. As he continued to stare at her, he noticed that she shared a bit in common with the red haired boy he had met earlier in the hallway.

Walking into the office, the teacher smiled at the man behind the desk before turning to look at Tai still sitting in the plastic chair and staring at her. "Hello, I'm Mrs. Izumi, and you must be the new student I was told off." 

Tai blinked his eyes at the words and quickly looked away from her, his face turned a bit pink around the cheeks as he mentally slapped himself for staring at her like that. "I'm Taichi Kamiya, nice to meet you." Giving an awkward bow as he stood up, Tai still avoided making eye contact with the older woman. 

Eyes closing as she smiled at the boy, Mrs. Izumi turned to face the man behind the desk, her eyes opening again to spot him once again consumed with the mountain of paper, then she returned to stare at Tai. "Well, shall we go, it wouldn't be nice of us to distract Mr. Kido anymore." Opening the door as she spoke, she gave a small wave with her hand that for him to leave the room first.

Walking out, Tai gave a quick smile and then waited for the teacher to step out and show him the way to his classroom, even if he would have been able to find it now that he had a map of the place it was nice to have a guide for the day, but first he had to. "Ahh, sorry about staring at you like that before, you just reminded me of someone, that's all." 

Mrs. Izumi grinned and waved a hand at him in a dismissive manner. "That's quite alright Mr. Kamiya." Smiling as she began to walk down the corridor, she looked back at him. "Well, come on, I'll show to the classroom, and tell you a bit about the different classes on the way."

A good ten minutes later and a bit of small talk, Tai found himself standing nervously just inside the classroom door, he was very much a where of the fact that every eye in the room was currently burning a hole through him as the students tried to figure him out by his looks alone. "Geez, you would think I would be used to this after the last three times, but no. I gotta act like a kid on his first school day every single time" The words were mumbled and very quiet as he turned to watch Mrs. Izumi giving him the basic speech about being nice and helping him fit into the class.

Turning to face Tai, she waved a hand to show him that he should come out of the corner by the door and introduce him, something that was also getting painstakingly familiar to him. Holding his book bag a bit too tightly, he walked up to stand by the teachers desk, facing the many students, some of which had already lost interest in him, and the small group of preps already coming up various things to discuss about him in the first break, something that would likely result in a few stupid rumors to float around the school. Watching the few students who actually seemed to care, he stopped when he noticed a red haired girl sitting next to a blond haired one, both of them looked somewhat familiar to him, but he couldn't really place them. Shaking the feeling away mentally, Tai took a deep breath and turned to face the class. "Hi, I'm Taichi Kamiya..."

Getting the introduction over with in a rather fast pace, even for someone who had so much experience as him, he expected to be assigned a crappy seat and remain ignored for the rest of the lesson. But that didn't happen until after the kind teacher had decided that they class could ask him any questions if they had any, and now thanks to the third degree questioning by the preps he was more then ready to just sit down and forget where he was, so dropping his book bag on the floor next to the rather painful look wooden chair, he neatly slid into the seat of it and face the front of the class for a whole second, then his eyes turned to stare at the wall next to him. He had hoped to get a window seat, but a spot three chairs down from a corner wasn't that bad either, teachers rarely ever looked in that direction, but since he was new, he couldn't relax completely yet, teachers had a nasty habit of asking the new kids more then the others.

  
-----------------  


School ended rather fast for him, leaving him with a feeling of having missed something important, he couldn't really believe he had finally gotten out of that stuffed classroom and the crowed hallway's so soon. All day long, it had seemed that so many of the students had done nothing but stare at him all day. Their eyes somehow looking right through him and seeing him for whom he really was. "Forget it Taichi, you came here with him for one thing." Stuffing a hand into his uniform jacket, the wild haired boy pulled out a piece of paper from it, the only thing on it was a simple line messily written across it with a photo near the top. "Yuuko Aida" Moving a finger over the photo, the brown haired boy fought down the urge to cry, it wasn't manly to cry. Still, he needed her more then he had ever had in his whole life. "Mother, were are you?"

Quickly removing the paper and hiding in case someone was watching, the brown haired boy shot a quick look around the school yard, no one seemed to have notice what he said. Pulling his school bag up, he turned in the direction of his home, taking the first step towards a home he always dreading having to return too, but if what his father had said was right, he should have most of the evening for himself.

Behind him, a familiar brown haired and red haired girl walked quietly side by side, both of them deep in thoughts about the upcoming test they had to take, and just what they should be doing over the weekend, Looking up as they reached a crosswalk, the red haired girl blinked as she noticed just who walking up in front of them. "Hey Mimi, you heard abut the new kid in my class?"

Looking up her search through her school had, Mimi Tachikawa blinked as she spotted the rather rude kid she had met that morning, the same messy brown hair moving in the wind as she did and making him look even more untamed then he did before. "Him, yeah, heard he wasn't the most talkative one from the others, but I do know that he and his dad moved into my apartment complex yesterday." Mimi's eyes turned a bit more devilish as she turned to stare at her best friend. "But forget about him Sora, I want to hear about your first date with Matt and don't you dare hold anything back, you owe all the details since you didn't answer the phone at all yesterday." 

Soar blushed as she turned her attention away from Mimi, her thoughts drifting back to the rather wonderful date she had had last night with the blond haired leader of the lone wolves. "He was nice." Sora replied as she beat down the sudden remembrance of his lips on hers when they had their first kiss and the following five repeats that came after the first one. "Really nice."

Mimi grinned as she held Sora close to her. "Aww, you're finally growing up." Stepping back to avoid the playful swipe from the red head, Mimi grinned as she turned to stare at the local mall in front of them. "This calls for an ice-cream?" Giving the red haired girl her best puppy eyes, Mimi cheered as she saw Sora give in.

Up ahead of them, Tai stopped and looked back, following the two girls with his eyes as he went over the few words he had managed to pick up from their conversation. "Sora..." Staring at the red head, Tai sighed and turned back to continue home as he once failed to figure out why she seemed so familiar to him, a thought that was followed by another one. "Is it possible, she knows... Where I can find her?" Eyes glinting all of sudden, Tai picked up speed as he began to push his way past the other people on the street, there was one way to find out, but it required a bit of a... risk.

  
***************   


Walking down the crowed interior feeling satisfied after eating a snow cone each. Mimi Tachikawa and Sora Takenouchi smiled as they passed by a few other kids they knew in the mall, stopping to greet them when they waved at them, something that would in Mimi's case lead to at least half an hour of an conversation to hear if they had heard anything new since school let a little under an hour ago. To someone like Sora, it was just a rather boring thing, talking about which guys had that and which girls were not in at the moment and which were didn't really go well with and the only hope right now, was that no one had managed to do anything in the simpel hour that had passes since the school had ended, a hope that was crushed with a squeal. 

Looking at her friend, Sora sighed as it looked like the younger girl wasn't going to go anywhere anytime soon, the sparkle in her eyes as she sat down was a clear sign that some hot new gossip had come up. But in this case, Sora didn't really have the patience to deal with her best girl friend's preppy friends and gossip, she had to be home in... Well it had to be before they sat down to eat, and now she remembered about it. Shooting a quick look at her wristwatch, Sora sighed as she noted that the shop she needed to enter was going to close in about an hour. "Hey Mimi." The younger looked up from talking very animatedly with the similar aged Hinako and Nariko. "I just remembered I need to pick up a new tennis uniform, so if you wait here, I'll hurry down and get it, then we'll go look at that shop you always talk about okay." 

Looking at the older girl as she spoke, Mimi smiled at the suggestion, and she really didn't want to spend time in a sports store if she could avoid it. "Okay, you do that, I'll just wait here for you to get back." Grinning as she saw Sora smile, she turned back to hear the latest story about the soccer captain and his girlfriend. 

Turning away from the three giggling girls, Sora breathed out in relief and began a light jog down the Mall corridor, her eyes darting from one shop sigh to the other to keep track of where she was. Ducking around a group of elderly ladies walking out a drug store, she stopped when for a moment she got the feeling that something wasn't right, like someone was following after her. But when she turned around, all she saw was a group of children in different ages standing around the wishing fountain, and the group of elderly ladies walking towards the escalator. "Must have been my imagination." Turning around and continuing, she failed to noticed when one of the children around the fountain looked up at her and began to follow her, this time being a bit more careful. 

Moving a bit faster just in case, Sora shut a few looks back over her shoulder whenever the feeling of being followed returned. After five minutes of walking fast only to stop and look back to find none, she nearly cried out in joy when she finally spotted the store she needed to enter. Passing through the glass doors, she smiled and waved at the cashier when he looked up.

Moving down the paths in the shop, she steered straight towards the stuff she need, her eyes darted towards the one thing she somewhat missed playing, but had stopped doing in order to get her mother to stop fussing so much about. Reaching out her hands, she picked up the white ball with the black dots on it and bounced it a few times on her outstretched foot, getting a felling for the ball before giving it a light kick down the isle.

"You're good?"

Spinning around, her crimson eyes blinked as she notice a tanned face smiling back at her from under dark brown bangs of hair, the chocolate colored eyes looking at her with a playful smile as they slowly turned to follow the ball rolling down the isle before it stopped near the soccer uniforms on display. Shaking her head a bit, she ended her stare and stepped a bit back from the closeness of the other person to get some more space between them. "Sorry." Seeing the smile she was giving returned in the chocolate eyes, she giggled a bit at the childish light glowing in them. "Sorry about staring at you, I'm Sora Takenouchi." 

Bowing back in response, a high held messy ponytail fell down over the persons shoulder and stopped next to the face. "Taiko Aida, sorry for startling you before." As the girl stood up, Sora gave her a quick look over. A sleeveless blue turtleneck, dark blue pants and black Velcro shoes with red lining. "So, are you interested in soccer as well?"

Blinking a bit at the words, Sora looked up and stared at the girl face for a bit before shaking her head and smiling back. "No, I just came in to find a new tennis uniform, the old one's gotten to small." Turning around and looking at the soccer ball lying on the ground, she sighed a bit wishfully. "I used to play soccer though, but I stopped it a year ago."

Pouting a bit at the woods, Taiko walked over and picked up the ball from the ground, twirling it around in her hands before sending it flying back into the display basket it had come from. "To bad, I was hoping to meet another soccer playing girl here." Stopping to look at the other balls on display, she reached down and picked another one up. "Still, there has to be at least one more out there then me, and I'll find that girl, no matter what." Striking a dramatic pose at the last words, she grinned when she heard Sora give a quick laugh as well.

"Sora?"

Looking back over her shoulder, she sighed when she spotted Mimi walking in through the doors to the shop, a trouble and concern look in the younger girls eyes. "Mimi over here!" Waving her hand to show her friend where she was in the shop, she grinned at the sudden happy look on the younger girls face as she made her way towards her. "Sorry about that Taiko, that was Mimi my best friend and..." Staring in confusion down the isle, she blinked as she failed to see the funny girl with the messy ponytail anywhere. "Taiko?" 

Popping up from behind one of the display, the brown haired girl looked back at Sora with a curious expression while holding up a white shirt in her hands. "Yeah, what is it?" Walking to her, she blinked when she notice d the arrival of a panting girl with a ticked off expression on her face. "Uh..."

Glaring at Sora as she stopped, Mimi tapped her foot on the ground before stopped as it sent a small prick of pain back to show just how much it hurt her. "Sora, where were you, I been waited hours for you to come back." Crossing her arms, she sent a look of betrayal at the older orange haired girl.

Smiling in a sheepish way as she shot a quick look at her watch, the older girl sighed as she noted that she had only been gone for more the 45 minutes, and it really wasn't her fault she lost track of time, it had just blown by in the company off, shooting a quick look at the confused brunette next to her, she blushed a bit. "Oh yeah, sorry about worrying you Mimi, I started talking with Taiko here and lost track of time."

Following the hand, Mimi eyes widen as she spotted the girl standing there with a soccer ball in her hands, the brown eyes looking back at her with a look of one trapped in a place they shouldn't be, frowning as she looked more closely at the girl, she blinked. "Have we met before? You look kind of familiar."

Looking a bit more frighten at the words, the messy haired girl picked up her pile of stuff and began to back away from the other two girls. "No! I don't think so, hey is that the time gotta go bye." Turning around in a hurry, Taiko rushed away from the confused girls and towards the cash register. "See you some other time Sora." 

Blinking at the rapid escape, Sora turned to stare at the just as confused Mimi. "What was that about?"

Mimi looked at the red haired girl with just as much confusion as she did. "Beats me." Then her smile turned predatory as she grabbed Sora's arm. "Now comeon, I heard they got some new clothes home today down at Mikoko's"

  
***************   


Looking back over her shoulder as she left the store, Taiko sighed in both relief and disappointment as it became clear that none of the two girls were following her out of the place. Turning away from the doorway, she shot a quick look around the mall she was in, her thoughts alternating between finding another sports store like the one she had just left, and making sure she could be home before her father got home.

Taking a step forward, she froze as she heard two familiar voices heading towards the doorway of the shop, looking around quickly, her eyes fell on the nearest place she could hide, the door into it open. Moving over quickly, she shot a quick look up on the sigh above the doorway. "Odaiba electronics and computer center." Hearing the door open, she stumble in and made a bee line for one of the many isles with computer games. If she had to hide in a boring place like this, she could at least try and get some kind of fun out of it.

Taking up a very good strategic position, she reached out and picked up the first game she could grasp, holding it up backside first, her eyes looking up and towards the door from the corner of her eyes, making it look like she was studying the game closer. "Move it will ya, please." Mumbling the words under her breath, Taiko felt like cursing out loud when she spotted Sora and Mimi stopping to talk with two other girls right outside the store.

"Gee, I didn't know girls liked that sort of games?"

Blinking at the question, Taiko turned her head to stare in the direction of the voice, staring confused when all she saw was an empty isle and a small... Looking down, she spotted another person she most definitely didn't want to be around at the moment. "Izzy?" Gasping out the name, she stopped when she realized that she wasn't supposed to know his name. 

Blinking back at her in confusion, the red haired boy stared from her to the game in her hand, and then back to her face, his eyes narrowing a bit as he looked closer at her. "How do you know my name." moving a bit closer, he looked more closely at her, his face nearly ramming into the bottom of hers. "You know, you look rather... familiar."

Reacting fast, Taiko giggled in a nervous and very girlish way as she reached out and pushed the red head a bit back from her, her eyes shooting over to the door to see if the group of girls had left yet, finding it a negative, she sighed and looked back at the boy, who was staring back at her and pointing at her hand which was still pressed against his chest. "Uh, Sorry!"

Izzy blinking as the girl almost jumped a meter backwards at her own outburst, her ponytail moving through the air without losing it puffy look at all, the brown eyes still shooting over to look at the door every now and then. "Are you in some kind of trouble?" Asking in a curious, yet not all to curious way, Izzy frowned when all he could see outside the door as a bunch of girls.

Returning her attention to the boy, Taiko venomously shook her head at the question, the last thing she wanted was for the boy to find out anything or get even more involved with her then just a strange meeting in a computer store. "No, I'm just waiting for someone, yeah, that it, waiting for someone." Giggling a bit nervously and holding on tighter to the game case, she shot a quick look around the place, expecting more of kids that she really didn't want to meet to shoot out and surprise her.

Izzy on the other hand was also starting to think that making contact, with one of the few girls he had happened to see step into the store that day without a guy following with her, was not that good of an idea after all, and if that glint in her eyes was what he was thinking it was, he was in deep trouble. "Umm, miss, are you alright." Stepping back just in case she was a nut case, Izzy wondered if he should try and get the shop clerks attention just to be on the safe side.

Looking down at Izzy and spotting Sora and Mimi leaving along with the tow other girls from the corner of her eyes, she silently began to thank whatever higher deity was out there for that stroke of good luck, smiling as she turned her full attention to the boy before her, she reached out and put the game she was holding into his hands. "No I'm okay, look I gotta go, bye. Nice talking with you Izzy." Waving a bit, she turned and almost ran out of the store, her eyes moving to the giant mall watch planted in the middle of the place. "Gotta be fast in getting the stuff I need, Dad's going be home in one hour and 45 minutes."

Behind her, Izzy was staring after her with a look of confusion, terror and curiosity all stamped onto his face, each of them changing rapidly as he went over them. Looking away from the door, his eyes moved down to the game he was now holding, the same rather underdressed anime girl looking back at him from the cover of it. "Gah." Dropping the game, Izzy cursed as every eye in the story turned to stare at him following his outburst, the look in their eyes as they saw just what isle he was standing in spoke volumes of what they were thinking at the very moment. "It wasn't me who picked that game, a girl gave it too me, I swear!" Running out of the store much in the same manner as Taiko, Izzy hoped that when he returned to it tomorrow, they wouldn't even be able to remember his face.

  
***************   


Precisely one and a half hour later, Taiko Aida was huffing badly as she stormed up the flight of stairs in her apartment complex, her legs protesting against it after the rather long run from the mall to the building, grinning as she reached the floor she lived at, she pulled out her key as she pushed open the door into the main hallway and moved towards apartment number 45, her hands almost stabbing the door with the metal thing several times from her rapid attempts at getting the damn thing into the keyhole. 

Succeeding in her task at last, she pushed open the wood and metal object between her and her home with her foot, her hand moving down to pick up the bag she had almost dropped when she fished around for her key, wincing as the door smacked against the wall with a loud bang before starting to close again, she stepped in quickly and ignored the sound still echoing in the hallway. Moving a bit into her apartments hallway, she reached out and kicked the door from the inside to close it completely, missing the door opening across from her, and the brown haired woman looking out to see who was making all that noise.

As the apartment door closed shut with a loud, but not as noisily as when she opened it, bang, Taiko stared around the simple entryway, the white paint on the bare walls, her winter jacket hanging on the coat rag since it hadn't gotten any further since they moved in, the brown shoes carelessly kicked into a corner instead of placed on the holder for them. Moving further in, she strained to hear any sounds coming from any of the different rooms. Hearing none, she let out a relieve breath of air and carefully moved down the hallway and towards the door into her room.

Opening it quietly and closing it just as quietly behind her, she stared dejected around at the various towers of mess in the place, the books dropped all over the desk, the computer standing where it had been standing since moving in, the same dirty sock hanging down it as always. And her messy bed completing the look of a boy's room, she even had a pile of dirty laundry in the corner. Just like every healthy teenage boy's room should look like, in her father opinion.

Sighing loudly at the thought of it, she slowly stepped over and pushed the covers away from her bed in a quick move, ignoring the pillow flying through the air to land in the mess behind her. Dropping the sheets and blanket on the floor in a heap, she reached down under the blue spring madras and pulled up as hard as she could, the short wooden blanks made to hold the bed together and keep the madras up was next, grabbing one of the bars, she pulled it to the side and gave way to her secret storage space, the drawers under her bed, ever since four years ago she had prevented them from being used by nailing them to the side of the bed. 

Stepping back and grabbing her bah, she dumped her various shopping stuff down into the same stuck drawer as she used to, then she carefully kneeled down and began sorting it, dumping the small, very small collection of make up next to the rather large collection of Shoujo comics and the few other things any girl in her age needed, the swimsuit she had dared to buy went into the pile of clothes she still hadn't gotten around to wearing yet, several older swim suits lying in the pile. Finishing with it, she moved the madras back into place and redid the whole bed to look like it hadn't been moved at all, but leaving the sheets and blanket a mess just in case her father decided to look around her room later.

Stepping back from it, she turned and walked over to her closet, opening it to pull out a pair of long, baggy jeans, a baggy white t-shirt with the words road kill on it and a long sleeved blue one from the depths of the many shelves. Dropping the clothes on the desk, she opened one of the drawers and pulled out several pieces of clothes, each one 6 centimes wide and around 4 meter's long. Pulling of her T-shirt and bra, she picked up the bindings and expertly began to wrap it around her chest area, pulling it tight in when the first roll ran out, she reached out and picked up the next one with her free hand, using it to secure the first roll and wrapping some more around her chest. Feeling the second roll run out, she reached down and picked up the lose end, looping it around one cloth warp and tying a small knot on it, letting out the breath she had been holding to give her a clue as too how tight it should be, she winched as she felt the pain from the first breath of air she took. 

Finished with the binding, she reached down and pulled up the long sleeved blue shirt, pulling it over her head and down over her, adding in the white T-shirt over it. Pulling of her pants, she reached down and picked up the baggy jeans and pulled them on instead. To finish it, she reached up and undid her ponytail, letting the hair fall down freely, before picking up a headband and the goggles, restoring the hair back into its most common messy hairstyle.

Looking into her only mirror as she finished, Taiko Kamiya gave a small smile to the person she saw in it, the same brown hair and eyes staring back at her, the chocolate brown eyes reflecting the sadness as well. But where she knew she should be seeing Taiko Aida, the reflection showed that she was now the person she was expected to be. "Hello, Taichi Kamiya." At that very moment, the sound of the doorbell ringing could be heard throughout the apartment.

Standing up and making sure that he once again really did look like a boy, Tai walked out of his room, stepping over his shoes lying in the middle of it all and reached out to open the door, mentally smacking himself for the tenth time as he had almost forgotten his fathers very strict orders about not opening the door without checking who it was first, but since it was a little too late, all he could do was shoot a peek around the half open door and out at the smiling woman standing outside it. "Uh, hello." 

Tbc: Friendly next door visits.

AN: Yes, the first chapter is finally out and ready for all of you to read. Anyway, now I want to hear you kind folks opinion about the rewrite slash new version of my old hit story "Tai's Little Secret."

Also, don't forget, I will answer any questions you have, as long as they are about the story.

Want to know when the next chapter comes out, then join the list, and I'll give send a mail when it does. Just tell me you want to on the list and this is important leave your mail address, without I'm kind of unable to find out where to send it too. And when the next chapter is ready, I'll send you a mail when I upload it. Are you too lazy to inform me through a review? Then contact me at deminohoyer@hotmail.com. 

Signing out for now,  
Demino.


	2. Friendly next door visits

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

Summery: Au, Taichi yagami has just returned to Odaiba for the first time in seven years to start going to scholl there again, and a wild haired girl named Taiko Yagami shows up as well. Looking so similar and yet claiming not to know the other, both of them grabs the attention of the elite group on the school for various reasons.

AN: Hiay everyone, this isn't the first time I write a story like this. Think of it as an alternate version of the first "Tai's Little secret" I wrote, it also doubles as an somewhat usable excuse for not writing the promised Pair up endings I promised to write, for those who have waited this long for them, I'm sorry the promised endings haven't been written or uploaded yet.

Info. When Tai is dressed as Taichi, she well be referred too as a male, and when's dressed as Taiko, she will be referred too as a female.

=============================  
Tai's Little Secret (Alternate)  
Part II  
Friendly next door visits  
=============================

_ Looking into her only mirror as she finished, Taiko Kamiya gave a small smile to the person she saw in it, the same brown hair and eyes staring back at her, the chocolate brown eyes reflecting the sadness as well. But where she knew she should be seeing Taiko Aida, the reflection showed that she was now the person she was expected to be. "Hello, Taichi Kamiya." At that very moment, the sound of the doorbell ringing could be heard throughout the apartment._

Standing up and making sure that he once again really did look like a boy, Taichi walked out of his room, stepping over his shoes lying in the middle of it all and reached out to open the door, mentally smacking himself for the tenth time as he had almost forgotten his fathers very strict orders about not opening the door without checking who it was first, but since it was a little too late, all he could do was shoot a peek around the half open door and out at the smiling woman standing outside it. "Uh, hello."

Smiling when she noticed him look out the door, the woman gave a formal bow before she spoke, her eyes still filled with a lot of kindness in them. "Hello, and welcome to the Apartment complex." Holding out a small plant in a pot, she waited for him to accept it from her.

"Thanks." Taichi replied as he held the plant, staring down at the bud on the green stalk with the three leaves poking out the side, a faint hint of red showing that it was close to blooming. "Um, do you want to come in, my dad's not here, but I don't think he'll mind it."

Smiling at the words, the woman suddenly gasped as she shook her head. "I'm sorry, I forgot to tell you my name, I'm Yumi Kido and I live on the floor below." Seeing Taichi's clueless expression, she grinned a bit and smiled even more. "Sorry, but I'm still new with being the head of the resident's committee and all, but I still want to welcome you and your father to the complex on behalf of all the other residents."

Smiling as he looked at Yumi, he gave a small bow back at her. "I'm sorry as well, I'm Taichi Kamiya, my father isn't home right now, but if you want too, you can come in and have a cup of coffee or tea. It shouldn't be long before he's home."

Giving another quick bow, Yumi stood up in her full height and clasped her hands together in front of her. "Way thank you, I would love to have a cup of tea, if it's not to much trouble that is."

Stepping back and pulling the door open, Taichi allowed her to step into the entrance, making sure she was ready to follow him before walking further down the corridor and into the living room. "Sorry about the mess, we're still not finished unpacking yet."

The woman nodded as she looked down at a small box with Taichi's name on the side of it, her eyes growing a bit big and more warm as she pulled out a small white square device from the top of it. "Oh, you have one of those little V-pet things as well."

Taichi blushed a bit as he turned d and gently took the V-pet away form the woman. "Um yeah, I got this from some friends I knew back in Nerima." Putting the V-pet into his pocket, Taichi slowly pulled out a chair for Yumi to sit on as he walked out into the kitchen. "I'm sorry, but all we have of tea is some western brand, Earl Gray."

Yumi looked out at Taichi holding a gray box with a few tea bags in it. "That's okay, I'm always open to try out new tea brands." Seeing Taichi's confused look at her comment, she gave a small laugh. "It's okay, Really, I don't mind it at all."

Taichi nodded as he carried out three empty teacups, putting down on the table with one in front of the guests, one at the head of the table and finally one in front of himself. "The tea should be ready in a few moments."

Shaking her head at the words. Yumi slowly looked around the room with another curious glance on her face, before settling her eyes on Taichi again. "Um, it's not to be nosy, but, do you know the messy haired girl with entered the building a few moments ago, I haven't seen her around here before."

Nearly biting himself in the tongue, Taichi looked up at her as he did his best t smile. "No, I'm afraid I haven't maybe she's the girlfriend of one of the other kids in this building." Speaking a bit hasty in the end, Taichi looked up at the clock over the table, praying for his father to come in through the front door before he said too much to Mrs.Kido.

"Oh." Yumi answered as she looked out into the kitchen, a far away look in her eyes. "Well, maybe Joe is finally getting himself a girlfriend, it would be nice to see him do something outside the building besides school or hanging out with that Izzy boy all the time. "

"Izzy." Taichi mumbled out as he sat up a bit more in the chair, the only other boy he had met so far that went by that name had been the one form the computer store. If he lived in the building, he would have to be more careful about going out as Taiko, a lot more careful. "Um, this Izzy, he wouldn't be red haired and about this tall?" Taichi asked as he held out a hand in the high he guessed Izzy to have.

Looking at him and the hand, Yumi nodded to herself as she smiled. "You met him already, wait, you go to the same school as Mimi right?" Seeing Taichi nod, she smiled to herself. "Then you're also in the same school as Izzy, must form there you met him."

Giving a smile to her on the outside, Taichi was in a wild panic on the inside, trying to figure out if it was consider rude to bang ones head into the table at news like that. "That's great, maybe I can become friends with him." Taichi answered as politely as he could and without any insulting tones instead, having decided it was not polite to openly refuse to have anything to do with the children of a guest.

Sitting a bit of silence, Taichi nearly jumped out of his chair as the Tea Kettle gave out a loud whistle, the sound coming as a salvation to Taichi. The silence having nearly driven him to do something stupid, like running out of the room. "Um, I'll go and get the tea."

Stepping out into the kitchen, Taichi stopped when he picked up the sound of the door handle turning, followed by the sound of a pair of shoes getting kicked off and into the small cabinet meant to store them. Ignoring the teakettle for the moment, Taichi stuck his head out the door and gave a grin at his father as he stepped into the living room. "Hey Dad, this is Mrs. Kido, she's the head of the residents committee, I invited her in for a cup of tea as a thanks for the flowers she gave us."

Eisen looked from Taichi and over at Mrs. Kido sitting in the chair, his eyes turning a bit softer as he smiled at her when she stood up. "Please, don't get up because of me, I'll just be a minute." Looking over at Taichi, he grinned and placed his attaché case near the wall and walked over to look at the messy haired boy. "So, is the tea ready?" Seeing Taichi nod, his smile grew even bigger. "Okay, I'll just go and wash my hands, and then I'll come out and join you and Mrs. Kido."

"Okay." Taichi turned and went over to pour the hot tea into the small porcelain kettle and carried it out into the living room. Going back out to get a small plate for some of the let over biscuits. Sitting down in his chair after pouring a cup for Mrs. Kido, after that, he poured tea up for his father and finished by filling his own cup with tea. "Please, help yourself."

"Why thank you." Mrs. Kido responded as she picked up a biscuit and bit into it. Then she lifted up her cup and took a sip of the tea, closing her eyes as she moved it away. "Well, it's different form our native tea, it has a more, powerful taste and lacks the long time flavor of some of the more traditional flavors." Smiling a bit as she put the cup down, she looked over at Taichi and smiled. "But it's not bad, it's quite good. What brand did you say it was."

Staring into his own Tea, Taichi didn't look up at the question, his mind was more busy trying to figure out what mood his father was in, and what it would turn out like later one. But that didn't mean he didn't hear her question he just didn't show it. "Earl Gray."

Then, Taichi's father stepped back out into the living room, his smile still there as he sat down at the head of the table, his eyes briefly moving over to look at his son before returning to stare at Mrs. Kido. "Well, I don't know how much Taichi have told you about me, but I'm Eisen Kamiya."

Taking the offered hand, Yumi offered up another smile at Eisen as she stood up. "Well, it been a pleasure to meet both of you, but I'm afraid I have to get going now." Putting down her empty teacup, Yumi stood up and smiled down at Taichi as she offered out her hand to him as well. "It was nice meeting you as well, I hope you will both show up to some of the board meetings to give your view on the matters around here."

Eisen, smiling at her as he stood up, looked away as he bean to follow her to the door. "Yes, I'll be sure to look in at the next meeting, if I'm not working that is."

Remaining at the table, Taichi head dropped own onto the plate as soon as his father and Mrs. Yumi had left the room chatting together.

"Taichi, Boy, what have I told you about letting people into the apartment without me permission!"

Taichi gulped a he looked up from the Table. The tone of his father's voice spoke clearly of his current mood as he walked into the living room with a dark glare on his face as he waited to hear an excuse for letting someone into the apartment without permission. "Um, I didn't know what else to do, she would have..."

"Spare it." Eisen broke off Taichi as he marched over to stand right next to him. "For your sake, I hope she didn't find out about you." Turning and walking over to his attaché case, he stopped to shoot a dark look back at Taichi. "Clean up that mess, I expect you have fixed our dinner in an hour."

Nodding and quickly grabbing the first cup, he began to walk out into the kitchen, stopping when he could still hear his father's voice coming form the home office. "Stupid female coming in here without my permission, they're all nothing but trouble, just like her." Then the door into the office slammed shut as Taichi placed the three cups on the kitchen counter.

Much later in the day, Taichi sat in his chair and sighed as he pushed the homework away form him, his mind not up to the task of solving the problems in front of him. "Sora?" His mind instead chose to focus on the orange haired girl who he had talked with in the sports shop, but that had been as Taiko, but that didn't stop him from liking her, but not in that way, after all, they were both girls.

Closing his eyes and pushing off from the desk, he gave a grunt of frustration as he settled for looking up at the white color of his ceiling, pushing away the sound of his father watching TV in the living room. At the thought of his father, his eyes wandered over to stare at the door, making sure it had been locked when he entered. Knowing that his father would freak out if he tried to enter but found the door closed, but it still beat having to watch his father go nuts if he decided to do a raid on the room like the last time.

"I wonder, how other kids would deal with this." The words were out of his mouth as he stood up, cracking his back and making sure not to look at the half done homework on the desk in front of him.

Settling down on his bed, Taichi grinned as he reached down a hand and pulled out his V-pet. It had been a long time since he had last played with it, but maybe, it could get his mind of his troubles if he played a bit with his digimon again.

"Let's see." Taichi mumbled out as he turned the unit back on, a loud whine filling the room as it showed a low amount of battery from the long sleep at the bottom of his stuff. "Okay, Agumon, reformattered 9 times, 145 victories, 2 losses and 1 tie." Smiling a bit, Taichi grinned as he remembered the only two people who had actually defeated him and his partner in this game. "Heh, Davis, because I wasn't ready for his constant attacks, Ryo, come to think of it, did anyone ever beat him, the guy too good at this." The battle with Ryo had been more then a simple loss; it had been a complete trashing. Agumon, a Wargreymon at that time, had been kicked around by a simple team of two champions, the match had ended with Wargreymon getting deleted and reformatted after a curling 10 minutes of humiliation.

Pushing the depressive thoughts away and playing a bit with his Agumon and getting it leveled up a bit, Taichi finally gave a loud yawn as he rolled over to stare up into the ceiling again, the V-pet turned off and lying on his desk as he slowly tapped one finger on the Madres in a slow rhythm.

--------------------

"Briingggggg"

Smash!

Sitting up and yawning loudly as her fist moved away form the alarm clock, Taiko cast a quick look around the room, spotting nothing out the order as she pushed the blanket back and stumbled down onto the floor, her eyes going over to stare into the mirror placed one the table, a messy haired face staring back at her, dark circle halfway formed around her eyes due to lack of sleep. "Great." She mumbled out as she grabbed a fresh set of clothes, chest bindings and dragged herself front the hallway and into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her and locking it.

Turning on the knob to the bath top, she grumbled as she pulled off her t-shirt and shorts, picking up the toothbrush and paste as she waited for the tub to be filled with water. Outside, the sound of another clock radio turning on broke past the scrambled thoughts going through her head as a mumbled out curse followed the radio's morning tunes. "Great, better get this bath over with."

Turing around and quickly washing down before the bath, Taichi gave a cry of shock as she washed the soap of with cold water and stood up, if there was one thing she really disliked, it the cold wash before the bath itself. Still, it also went she had the best part ahead of her, even if it could last about 10 minutes or so.

Stepping up into the water, she sighed as she lowered herself down and relaxed, the water helping her do so, as well as washing away some of her concerns. Smiling a bit, she closed her eyes and decided to make sure she got the best out of it, only to blink as her stomach made a small clenching motion, a brief flash of pain running through her. "Wha?" Sitting up, she groaned as stood up, another milder bit of pain flashing through her, ruining her mood for the day.

Grapping a towel and drying off, she quickly dressed and wheezed a bit as the chest binds came on tighter then the before, her eyes watering at the pain as it was put on a bit too tight for her liking.

"Boy, are you going to be done soon or what?"

Looking at the door, Taiko sighed as she picked up the school shirt and jacket, quickly putting it on along with her jacket and tie, staring into the mirror to once more see her alter ego, Taichi Yagami looking back at her, his messy brown hair sticking out in its normal style. "All done pops, I left the water in the tub for you."

Unlocking and pulling open the door, Taichi walked calmly past the rather smashed looking man standing outside the door with an impatient scowl on his face as he looked at the clock on the wall. "Took you long enough boy, remember, a guy spends as little time pampering himself as he can, all that other crap is just for weak girls, and you, are not a girl, right?"

Taichi backed away at the sudden question, as well as the dark glare level at him from his father. "Of course not." The words came fast he pushed open the door into the kitchen, reaching out a hand for the coffee cups and coffee pot. Already having gotten the coffee powder down in order to make a cup. "Only when you're not around"

Pulling out the cereal when the coffee machine had started, Taichi grumbled as he poured up a decent amount and reached in for some milk, staring when all he found was a foul smelling milk carton inside of it. "Great, just what I don't need right now!" Swearing a bit at it, Taichi made sure the milk ended its days in a plastic bag stuffed away into the corner until he left.

Eisen stepping into the kitchen, blinked when he noticed the plastic bag, his coffee still standing on the pot and a very angry boy sitting at the table munching on a pop tart. "Okay." Walking over to look in the refrigerator, he sighed and walked over to get is own breakfast pop tart. "Boy, if I hand you some money, can you handle the shopping today, I have another long meeting with the office idiots to attend."

"Yeah Sure." Taichi mumbled out as he gulped down the last bit of his pop tart with out looking up from the table, his mind focused on the day ahead and what he should be careful of doing. "Hey dad, I'm need you sign this paper before I leave." Taichi mumbled out as pushed a small note over the table. "Gym teacher demands I bring a written note if I want to be excused from that period."

Eating his pop tart, Eisen shrugged as he grabbed the nearest ball pen and quickly wrote his name at the bottom in a hurry as he looked up at clock. "Okay, here's 3000 yen, make sure you get breakfast, coffee, some for dinner and the new number of the TV guide." The coins and notes landed on top of the paper as he stood up. "And boy, make sure that you're home before 20PM and have some food ready for me to heat."

Not brothering to look at his father, Taichi nodded as he scraped the paper and money together, standing up himself as soon as they were secure in his wallet, grabbing his school bag from it place on the floor he made a last adjustment to his uniform before walking out of the kitchen. "And so, another day begins."

Stepping out through the front door, he froze as he spotted the same cinnamon haired girl he had met the other day walking out of the door across from his, a piece of toast in her mouth as she turned the key around in the door lock. Then, her eyes locked with his as she turned away. Feeling clearly her annoyed glare at him, Taichi gave a nervous smile as he finished locking his own door.

Mimi Tachikawa stared at the messy haired boy as they made their way towards the elevator her eyes scanning him to see if he was going to do the same thing he had done the other day, but only saw the few nervous looks getting sent her way as they both waited for the elevator to show up.

Taichi sighed as he saw her look at him, the glare not as strong as before, but still getting on his nerves as he wasn't used to someone paying so much attention to him, well, except for those two, but they were back in Nerima, and he was here, in Odaiba.

Hearing the door open, he started to step forward, when he noticed the girl pushing in to the elevator before him, turning to glare at him as she pushed the button to take them down to the ground floor.

Feeling it move down, Taichi leaned on the wall of the small room and settled for following the number flashing as they began to move towards the ground floor. Somewhat ignoring the silence that filled the room as the girl sighed rather loudly at the time it took.

"Hey?"

Looking up as her voice broke through his brooding, Taichi locked eyes with the girl again as she had turned her head in his direction. "Yeah?"

Mimi bit her lips as the boy responded in a rather indifferent tone of voice to her, her annoyance with him rising a bit again as she moved to face him completely. "Are you always so nice to people, or is just me?" Blushing a bit as soon as she had asked the question, she lowered her head, feeling a bit embarrassed at the bluntness of it.

Taken back at bit at the question, Taichi flushed with anger for a few microseconds, before shaking his head, she was right, he hadn't really been that nice to anyone he had met so far in this district. But, he had to find them, and he couldn't allow himself to be distracted by anyone until he had found them. Besides, no one could ever understand him like Jun and Davis had.

But, maybe, he could be just a bit nicer to people, Davis had always told him that he was to angry and rash to push people away from him, but no one could understand it. No one could understand what his life was like. "I... Just don't like to be near others." Taichi mumbled out half hearted as he turned his head to glare at the metal wall.   
  
Looking up at the answer to her question, Mimi stared in disbelief as the boy before her, having trouble in understanding that someone could feel that way about other people. "But, you must have someone you care about?"

"I did." Taichi replied as the elevator doors opened before him, showing the world just outside the apartment complex and the people who all had a normal life, not like his was, a giant lie that he couldn't get away from, no matter how much he wanted too. "But none of them is anywhere near here."

Staring after him, Mimi blinked as she barely made it out before the doors closed before her. Staring up the street, she spotted the messy haired boy walking through the crowd as he headed towards the school. "How can anyone be so hostile towards the world?"

--------------------

Dropping down into his chair, Taichi sighed as he lowered his gaze to the table as he pulled out the books he would need for the first class of the day, giving them a dark look as he placed them in a messy pile. "English, man, why can't they just learn Japanese instead of having us learn their jaw breaking langue."

"You know, they say talking to yourself is the first sign of insanity."

Looking up from his desk as the voice broke into his head, Taichi turned his head to stare at the one who had spoke to him in such a friendly approach, yet still having added in a light hearted jab at the same time. "So, maybe I juts like to talk with myself so I can something intelligent from time to time"

A lighthearted light came form the boy as he shook his head at the reply. The motion giving Taichi the time to get a better look at the boy without looking to curios. Short, well kept blond hair was the first thing he noticed about him, the color standing out a lot in a nation of mostly black or brown haired people.

"So." The boy started as he turned to regard Taichi again, a curious look on his face when he noticed Taichi puzzled look when he regarded him. "Names Matt Ishida." He smiled as he gave a nod at the brown haired boy as he pulled out his own books as well.

Shaking himself out of his thoughts, Taichi gave a smile as he looked at the boy. "Taichi Kamiya, just started at this school yesterday" He added in as he cast a look at the door to see if the teacher had shown up, or where about to.

Matt nodded as he leaned back in his chair, blue eyes going up to stare at the class black board with a somewhat interested look on his face as he looked at the different class members. "Heh, guess I won't be feeling so left out this time." The words were mumbled out but still loud enough for Taichi to hear as the brown haired boy raised an eye brown at the sentence. "I haven't been to school for two weeks."

"Oh." Taichi mumbled out as he gave an embarrassed smile at the blond haired boy at being so easy to read trough his expressions. "Matt, I think I heard that name before..." Taichi stopped when he noticed a slightly annoyed expression on Matt's face. "Uh, something wrong."

"Nothing." The reply were a bit icy as Matt kicked back in his chair and tapped his finger on the desk as he closed his eyes and mumbled something under his breath before turning to regard Taichi. "Hey?"

Looking a bit confused at the mood swings of the blond haired boy, Taichi turned his head to regard Matt again as he fiddled around with the book on the table in front of him, trying to keep the curiosity out of his voice. "Yeah."

Matt opened his mouth to say something, when the class door opened with a bang and the class representative walked in with a look of urgency around him. "Talk to you later." Matt mumbled out as he stood up along with the rest of the class.

Stepping up to his own desk, the class representative looked over at the door as it opened with a much gentler bang then before, an elder teacher walking in with a cup of coffee and a look that had most of the class groaning on the inside at the look of it.

"Class, bow!" At the command form the Class representative, Taichi, and all the other students gave a formal bow at the teacher as he placed his stuff on the desk and sat down, giving them a wave with a hand to show it was okay for them to sit down.

As the final students sat down at the table, he nodded and stood up before walking out in front of the desk to look at them with a glare with little to no care in it. "I see we have a new student, and that Mr. Ishida has returned to grace us with his presence again."

Hearing the badly hidden resentment in the teacher's voice, Taichi stared at the blond haired boy next to him, noticing the tense way he sat in the chair, and the barely hidden hate in the blue eyes as they focused on the teachers. Then he shook his head and returned to his own table, looking up as he felt the glare from the teacher shifting to him, the angry brown eyes looking into his as he clashed with the teacher in a staring match, ending it when the teacher finally turned his head to stare at another student.

Slumping back into the chair, Taichi looked to the side to see if the blond haired boy felt just as tense as he did over the teacher's behavior towards them. Then again, maybe the teacher just had a problem at home and took out his anger at the students, wouldn't be the first time something like that had happened.

Shuffling into a relaxed way of sitting, Taichi grinned a bit as he plopped a book open and placed it front of him as a way to hide is desk from the teacher, and the comic book he had pulled out along with the books, smirking as he turned the last page he had read.

Next to him, Matt shot a quick look over and stifled a grin of his own when he noticed just what the new kid in the class was up too, shaking his head as he focused on his own book in an attempt to catch up to the rest of the class, but still paying enough attention to the other to noticed Sora smiling at him from the second chair row from the fronts, seconds before he had to duck the teachers eraser thrown at him. "Sorry Sir. What was the question again?"

Getting the look from the teacher in reply, Matt began to lower his head down again as he felt his cheek blush in embarrassment. "I said, Mr. Ishida, read the next paragraph in the book."

Looking down a tit, Yamato sighed at it, already feeling that it hadn't even been a problem if he had been sleeping through the class. "Sir. The sheep's have run off from the farm again and we can't find your daughter, I also think that Mr. Günther have set the car on fire too." {What kind of school hands out a cheap romance novel for the students to read as homework} Matt wondered on the inside as he continued to read from the book.

Looking up as the class representative yelled out more orders, Taichi sighed and closed his comic before getting up to bow at the teacher as he walked off to torment the next group of students. Then he dropped back down to find the next large amount of books and hopefully something better suited to hide his comic with.

At least that was the plan, until someone snagged it from him as he was busy stuffing the English books into the book bag and pulled out the Biology books at the same time. "Hey?"

Matt ignored the cry from the messy haired boy, as he looked at the comic in his hands, one eyebrow rising up a bit as he stared at the title of it. "How did you get a hold of this comic." Matt asked as he turned over the latest issue of the American comic Ultimate Marvel Team Ups.

Tai, looking a bit angry over getting his comic taken away form him, quickly reached out and tore it away form the blond haired boy and brought it back into his protective care. "Through the import store, why?"

Looking a bit put of by the show of anger from the messy haired boy, Matt leaned back in his chair and sighed a bit as he rubbed the tip of his nose. "Well, I'm kind off, interested in reading it, if I may."

This time, Matt noted that he got the look form the boy as he slowly placed the comic on his table, keeping a hand on top of it as he continue to stare at him. "Look, if it means that much to you, I'll let you watch me as I read it."

Removing his hand from the comic, Taichi gave a dark grin as he heard the words. "Well, in that case, I may let you look at it." Holding up the comic, he gave another shout as it was plucked from his hands again, this time as a very familiar girl stepped up to the both of them. "Hey..." Stopping himself, Tai gave a nervous grin as the girl focused her attention on him.

Then he was saved as the blond haired boy reached up and grabbed her hand in a soft hold. "Hey... Sora, sorry I didn't call you or anything, but the tour took up a great deal of my time and well." Smiling at her in an attempt to get a quick forgiveness out of her, Matt saw the messy haired boy grab his comic book and grinned as he reached out a hand and grabbed his shoulder. At least he could avoid talking about the lack of phone calls for a little while. "So, have you met Taichi here?"

Sora turned her head to stare at the messy haired boy as he closed his book bag with a somewhat strained smile on his face as he looked at her. "You're the new kid right?" Seeing the annoyed look that briefly flashed over his face, Sora looked towards Matt to see if he had seen it as well. "Well, anyway, Matt, could I talk with you for a minute."

Giving her a puzzled look, the blond haired boy stood up form his place and followed after the orange haired girl as they made their way towards the classroom door, Matt shooting a quick look at the messy haired boy whose brown eyes had turned to stare out the windows of the class room. Then he refocused his attention on Sora as she stopped and leaned on the wall outside the room. "What is it Sora, if it's about the missed phone calls, its because I had to work extra hard on this tour, and you know TK got that flu just before I left, so I was mostly in contact with him and mom."

Shaking her head, Sora placed a finger on his lips to silence him. "Matt, I just wanted to hear, if we could go out sometime today, just the two of us." Seeing his smile, Sora smiled herself as she pushed away from the desk. "You know I trust you, and I don't mind the missed phone calls, I got the rest of the band to keep a look out for you."

"Great." Matt replied as he heard the words from her. "But seriously, I couldn't wait to get back and spend some time with you."

Standing up on her toes, Sora gave him a quick kiss on the lips at the words "I know. And I felt the same way."

"Oh get a room you two"

Turning their heads, Matt and Sora grinned as they spotted Mimi standing before them, her face still showing some anger over having to wear the school uniform. Behind her, the other member of their group was standing as well. Both unlike Mimi, he wasn't paying much attention to them; he was busier staring at the classroom.

Turning away form Matt, Sora grinned as she saw her friends standing there, even if they were a bit too different for their liking. "Mimi, Izzy, what brings you two up here?"

Izzy, hearing his name turned away from the doorway and gave the other three his attention. "Some announcement my mom told me about, apparently the principle wants us all to meet outside after classes are over."

Matt shrugged as he stood up. "I guess he just going to give us the usual pep talk on how we should study to meet the demands of collage and universities."

Both Sora and Mimi got a sour look on their faces at the mentioning of it, Mimi leading them as she dropped her head down to stare at the floor. "As if we didn't study enough already."

Izzy gave a small shrug as he looked around at them, his mother having already informed him of the extra hard work he had to do if he ever wanted to get into the collage he wanted to attend. "Well, no matter how much you dislike it, you have to admit he knows what he's talking about."

"I guess." Matt replied as he pushed off the wall and looked down the hallway to see the familiar brown hair of their biology teacher headed towards the class. "Well, I see the next teacher is coming, we'll talk later okay." Stepping away from them, Mimi and Izzy nodded before they began to head back to their own class.

Stepping back into the class, Matt settled down in his chair and sighed as the teacher stepped in, already handing out a large amount of homework for him to do. "Great, just great."

--------------------

Lunchtime, a glories whole hour with nothing to do but eat what he had brought along with him, or what he could find at the schools cafeteria. Both cases had a lot of danger to it as he could clearly see now that it was lunchtime. If he had brought something along with him, it would have to be nothing but junk food, which would drive him sick sooner or later, or he could go for the food getting sold by the cafeteria and face getting crushed by the masses trying to get something to eat.

Giving those choices, it was no surprise that he had gone for the least evil and got something from outside the school to eat, even if went against the school rules. Looking down at the small bag of sandwiches he had gotten, Taichi shrugged as he looked around for a place to eat.

The weather was nice, and a lot of students had drifted out to eat at the various places they could find a place to sit in their same groups of friends and chat just like they did everyday.

Stepping past them, Taichi sighed as he looked for a quiet place, spotting nothing but occupied places. Then his eyes drifted back to the school building, maybe he should just stay inside and eat. Or, he could go over to the school fence. No one ever walked all the way out there to eat, if the school was anything like his old one that is.

"Where's he going?" Mimi asked out loud as she watched the messy haired boy walk away from the schoolyard, her eyes following him as he began to head towards the outer parts of the schools area.

"Don't know." Matt mumbled out as he chewed on his mom's homemade lunch, taking care to enjoy it as much as he could since it was one of the first real meals he had gotten since the tour had ended.

Sora stared after Taichi as well before she returned to smile at Matt. "Maybe he just wants to be alone."

Hearing the comments, Mimi shrugged as well, taking another bit of her food; it wasn't really her problem if that boy didn't want to have anything to do with anyone. For now, her food mattered the most to her.

Matt looked up as he stared in the direction that Taichi has walked. "Do you think we should try and talk with him Sora? He sounded like a nice guy when I talked with him today."

Rising an eyebrow Mimi looked at Matt and tried to get the image of the messy haired boy he was talking about to fit with how he had acted around her. "Can't it wait until later?"

Sora shot Mimi a glare as she stood up from the lunch table. "Well, you can always sit here if you want too." Looking over at Matt as she began to walk off, she smiled. "So, any reason why you seem to focus so much on him?"

Matt flushed at the tone of voice she used, knowing full well what she was hinting in a playful manner as she leaned in close to him. "Hey, it's not like that, I just think that he will be a good friend."

Sora nodded as she had walked next to him, a silly grin on her face as she stepped from the blushing Matt next to her. "I was just kidding Matt." Then her face turned serious as she looked at him. "It's just, I feel like I know him from somewhere, but I can't figure out why."

"Well, you could have know each other in the past." Matt replied as he stuffed his hands into his pockets, holding the empty bento box close to him with the use of his arms, his eyes moving over the area and the students. "Got any idea where to look for him?"

Sora shrugged as she walked din the same direction Taichi had taken, her eyes moving to stare down the path behind the bushes. "I think he headed towards the fence."

Mimi stared at the confused as she was still eating some of her food, her eyes moving over to stare at Izzy who had decided to follow with them as well. "Why would anyone go there? There are no benches there, just a few trees and a lot of grass."

Izzy stared at her as she talked, his eyes half closed as he strapped his laptop onto his back. "Well, he might be looking for a place to be alone." Izzy's voice made the others look at him with a confused look. "No one ever goes there, well no one but the smokers or kids skipping a class."

"He didn't look like a smoker." Matt pointed out as he looked back at them, turning and walking of the path just like Taichi had, pushing aside a low hanging tree branch. "Geez, I can't believe the school has an area this big." He muttered out as he came to a stop, staring out overt a large of less then well-kept grass field leading towards the trees and fence surrounding the school property.

Sora nodded in response to it as she also looked out over it. "I think they had planned on building something here once but never got the funding for it. Now it's just an area used by the various school clubs when they can."

"Can we please just find this guy?" Mimi complained as she placed her free hand on her hip, her eyes going over the area they had ended up in. "I'm not so happy to be out here you know."

Matt sighed at the complaint and returned to the task of finding the messy haired boy. Stepping out into the less travel parts of the school area. "Yeah, yeah, I think he went that way." He mumbled out as he stepped into the longer grass.

Behind him, Sora did the same as she walked up a bit closer to him, taking care to stay near him in case they ran into some of the more unfriendly students. "Look Matt, are you sure it's a good idea, he might have gone out here to be alone."

Still headed towards the small path of trees up ahead, Matt stopped as he lifted up a hand. "I think he over there, behind those bushes."

Turning their heads in the direction, the other three kids nodded their heads, as they too became a where of the sound of footsteps and slightly hard to hear words. "Well someone's there." Mimi pointed out as a loud snap was clearly heard as someone stepped on a dry twig.

"Come on." Even as he spoke, Matt had already reached out a hand and brushed the foliage out of their way as he stepped forward. "Hey Taichi, that you over there..." Freezing, Matt stared at the scene in front of him with big eyes.

--------------------

Taichi sighed as he pushed the last bit if foliage out of the way as he had finally reached one of the few places where he could be alone on this stupid school. The school fence was rising a good deal up over his head as he stepped up to it. "Geez, you'd think it was a prison and not a school."

Turning around and leaning on the fence, he gave a small smile as he pushed some of his hair out of his eyes, taking a small relaxed stance as he cast first a look to the right, and finally to left, trying his best to see if anyone was hiding or spying on him.

Seeing no one, or hearing anyone for that matter nearby, the messy haired boy grinned as he reached up a hand and began to undo the first of the buttons on his school jacket. "I don't care how much of a secret he wants it too be, I need air, stupid chest bindings are too tight." Getting the buttons undone, he sighed as he reached down and began to fiddle a bit with the white cloth under the shirt until it were a bit loser. "Much better."

"Hey, anyone over there!"

Pushing off form the fence, Taichi hissed as he cast a look to his right. The sounds of footsteps getting louder as several people were clearly coming towards him. "Not now."

Not brothering to redo the chest bindings or walking away as quietly as he could before getting seen. Taichi breathed out in relief as he slipped into the safety offered by the trees again. "Stupid, I should have expected that to happen." Daring a look back, the messy haired boy stood completely still in his hiding spot as two students stepped out into the clearing and stared around the place.

The first one had a wrinkled uniform on that clearly hadn't been cared much for as a few stains could also be seen, in his hand he held a lit cigarette as he looked around the place. "I told you Masuya, ain't anyone here." Turning around, he slapped the second boy on the shoulder as he began to head back in the direction they had come from. "Now come on, I wanna enjoy this cig while there's still time."

Masuya grumbled a bit as he rubbed his shoulder with a dark frown on his face. "I'm telling you, I heard someone." Turning around as well, he began to follow after the first boy. "Hey, Hojo. Why are we out here anyway, can't we just use the bike shed for a smoking spot?"

Hojo grumbled a bit as he stopped and looked back at Masuya with a glare. "You know how stupid this place is, we aren't allowed to smoke on school grounds, rules and all." Shaking his head as he took a deep drag, he grinned. "Besides, you can at least pretend that you're out of the schools area back here."

"Yeah, yeah." Masuya mumbled out as he stomped after Hojo with a less dark frown on his face. "I'm just saying I much more prefer to find a better place to hang out at, that's all."

Hearing the boys walk away, Taichi gave a small sigh as he turned around to head back to the school before someone else came along and spotted him. "Stupid bindings." Mumbling out the words, the messy haired boy reached down to redo them as he took a step forward.

Only to stumble as his foot got stuck in something, the sudden lack of forward movement making him stumbled forward and right into the ground with a crash. "I hate my life." Spitting out the words as well as some dirt, the messy haired boy placed his hands on the ground and pushed off as a tearing sound filled the air. "No."

Looking down, his eyes locked onto the hand he had placed on a slightly thick twig, a twig that had been holding onto the middle part of his shirt, a shirt that was now torn almost completely open from the top to the middle of it. Luckily, her chest bindings hadn't taken any damage other then a bit of discoloring from the dirt itself.

Still, with the shirt ruined like it was, it left little doubt as too what gender he really was. Not even the chest bindings could completely hide his true gender. "Dammit." Mumbling out the curse, Taiko looked around the area as she began to fiddle with the shirt and jacket, trying to get it to close up enough to hide the chest bindings at least.

Staring glumly at her uniform after trying to get it fixed for the fifth time, Taiko groaned as it became rather clear to her that she couldn't close the last two buttons on the shirt or jacket, leaving far to much of her chest bindings exposed for her to at least pretend that she was a boy.

Sighed as she slumped down a bit, she accepted the fact that she really couldn't return to the classroom like this, no one knew who she was here, and there was no way she intended for anyone to find out about... She would just have to wait for the lunch break to end before she could sneak in and get her stuff. After that, she could return home and replace the chest bindings and forget this ever happen.

Looking around for a place to sit while she waited, the messy haired girl reached up and tucked on the mop of brown hair on her head. If she didn't want to be recognized, she had to try and look like Taichi as little as possible. And that meant she had to get this hairstyle into a more feminine one.

Looking down at her chest bindings. Taiko closed her eyes at she gave into it. Slowly undoing the knot and unwinding it, she pulled it lose from her until she had enough to work with. "I really hate my life right now." Mumbling out the words with a lot of venom, the messy haired girl tore the chest bind over. Retying the remaining bit as well as she could.

Pulling her hair down into her neck, she struggled a bit as she tied the chest binding around the hair at her neck in an imitation of a ribbon. Turning her messy mop of hair into a messy ponytail. "Great. One problem solved, now all I have to do is..."

"Hey Taichi, that you over there..."

Snapping her head up at the words, Taiko froze as her eyes locked onto a pair of blue ones staring right at her, but more precisely, they were staring at something a bit further down then her face. "You... You!" Opening her mouth with a beat red face, the messy haired girl pulled the remaining part of her ruined jacket and shirt together as she gave a loud cry of surprise and embarrassment.

Snapping out of it, Matt stepped back as he recognized the look in the messy haired girl's eyes, a look he had seen in some other students eyes when they got mad at him for some reason. "Uh, sorry about that, I was just..."

"Taiko, what are you doing here?"

Freezing at the words. Taiko slowly turned her head to the side to see a smiling Sora standing there next to Matt, Mimi and the red haired kid form the computer shop the other day. The three of them looking at her in a rather confused manner as they turned from her to stare at Sora still smiling at her as she stepped forward. "Uh... Sora?"

"Yup." Sora beamed as she stepped forward to her, her face getting a little frown as she stared at the school uniform the messy haired girl was wearing. "I didn't know you went to school here."

"Ah." Taiko replied as she pulled the top parts of her uniform together and began to try and get the ruined pieces of it to stay together in an attempt to at least cover her up. "Um, I... I..."

Matt and Mimi shared a look at the rather familiar way Sora acted around the girl, while behind them, Izzy was staring rather hard at her in the background, his eyes narrowed a bit as he tried to recall the last time he had seen her. "It's her." Izzy mumbled out as he recalled the incident in the computer store with her. "I didn't think Sora would know her."

Turning to the others, Sora smiled as she pushed Taiko up in front of her. "Guys, meet Taiko Aida, I met her yesterday at the sports store." Pointing a finger at Matt, she slowly pushed Taiko forward. "The blond haired boy's Matt, that's Mimi and the red head's Izzy."

Blushing a bit, Taiko lifted up one hand and waved at them as she gave a nervous smile at them. "Hiya." Her eyes looking at Matt as she waited for him to say that he recognized her, or if he didn't do, then Mimi would be more then likely to recognize her.

TBC: Taiko and Taichi.

AN: Second chapter done and ready. Now, I wanna hear what you, the readers think of it so far. Come on; give me your honest opinion about it. Also, I'm taking the same direction with this story as I did in the last version. There won't be any chosen couples or pair ups, but there will be hints about some through out the story.

Read a manga where they gave the teacher a bow to show respect when he enters the room, thought it would be fun to add it in this story as well.


	3. Taiko and Taichi

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

Summery: Au, Nearly found out by Matt and his friends at School, Taichi hiding in his real form of Taiko Aida, is waiting to be found out by Mimi and Izzy who she is sure will recognize her from the few times they have met.

Info: When Tai is dressed as Taichi, she well be referred to as a male, and when's dressed as Taiko, she will be referred to as a female.

  
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Taichi's Little Secret  
Part III  
Taiko and Taichi.  
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_Blushing a bit, Taiko lifted up one hand and waved at them while having a nervous smile on her face at the same time. "Um, hi." Her eyes looking at Matt as she waited for him to say that he recognized her, or if he didn't do, then Mimi would be more then likely to recognize her._

Matt stared at her as he get the feeling like he had met her before, but was having a little trouble fitting it in with someone he knew. "You know, you kind of look familiar." He stated as he looked more closely at her. "Have we met, somewhere before?"

Next to him, Mimi nodded as she poked her head forward, staring at the girl as well, her eyes narrowing as she gazed down at the girl's outfit. "That uniform, isn't that..." Reaching out a hand as she spoke, Mimi froze when Taiko backed away from her.

Eyes growing wide in panic At Mimi's actions and words mixed with Matt's. She gave a quick grin as she backed away from them, looking down at her free arm as soon as she had gotten far enough away. "Hey, look at the time, got to go, see ya." Turning around and bolting off, Taiko freaked out as she picked up the sound of the group running after her.

"Taiko, wait up, please!" Sora's voice cut through the air as she took off the messy haired girl as fast as she could, blinking as she found herself having trouble keeping up with her. "Taiko."

Behind her, Matt followed as well, his curiosity driving him to try and find out if that nagging feeling of having known her from somewhere really was true, and if it was, from where.

Pushing herself ahead even faster, Taiko thanked the stars for her having been a part of her last schools soccer team, well until it was starting to become too hard to hide her secret from the other team players. Jumping over a tree branch in her way, she pushed her way through a small bush and ducked around the corner of the school building, stopping as her eyes swept over the area, looking for a place to hide or run off to.

A few seconds later, Sora and Matt turned around the corner as well, both of them breathing a bit harder as they looked around the area they were in. Over there was the school dumpster, the path down to the schools parking spot, and one of the few back doors into the school, a door which was currently closing.

Pushing it open, Sora took a few hasty steps into the small hallway, then she stopped and looked around in confusion, there didn't seem to be any traces of the messy haired girl, but hadn't she just run into this place. Turning her head, she cast a look up the small staircase, trying to see if someone were hiding somewhere on it.

Behind her, Matt had entered as well, walking past her and looking down the hallway as he stepped through the second door opening, standing in the back end of the students area. "She's not out here."

"No ones on the staircase either, think she's hiding in a class room?" Sora's asked as she turned her head, staring at the blond haired boy as she walked out to join him.

Matt didn't answer right away as he rubbing a hand on his chin, eyes half closed as if he was thinking about something else at the moment. "Sora?"

Turning her head at the question, Sora stared at her best male friend as he gave her his best-concentrated look, one she had only seen a few times in the year they had known one another. "What is it Matt?"

Not answering right away, Matt turned his head to look back the way they had come, staring at the door leading into the file room. "Nothing." Turning back and walking towards the door leading out of the building, he reached out and took a hold of Sora's hand. "It's just, didn't Taiko look familiar to you?"

Giving him the look, Sora shook her head as she started to walk down the hallway after him. "Of course she looks familiar, I met her before."

"Oh" Matt replied as he struggled to keep up with his friend's pace.

Inside the school building, Taiko didn't waste time looking for a hiding place, instead, she had simply pushed open the first door in front of her and stepped in trough it to hide inside the room behind it. Closing the door behind her at the same time as she picked up the sound of her pursuers entering.

Hearing the sound of Matt and Sora talking together for a few moments before leaving, she let out a breath of air as she relaxed, her arms slumping a bit as she stepped away from the door, looking around the room for the first time. Row after row of boxes and papers were stored on a series of shelves inside the place.

Sliding down the door, Taiko shook her head as she finally found herself sitting on the floor. "Why?" Pulling her knees up close to her, she rocked a bit as she wondered what she had done to deserve the life she was living through, and finding no answer to it. "Jun, Davis... I need you, I need a friend."

Continuing to sit in the same position for more then a few minutes, ignoring the bell as it started to ring loudly both outside and inside the building. After another amount of time had passed, the messy haired girl finally gave a deep shaky breath as she started to stand up, her eyes moving to stare out through the file room, her hand reaching for the doorknob behind her.

Pulling it open, she slowly slipped out and stood in the hallway again, the door leading outside to the right of her, and the inner parts of the school building to her left. "No more." mumbling out the words, she turned on her heels and walked towards the door, reaching out a hand to grasp the door handle, only to freeze as it moved before she hand touched it.

Lifting her head, she stared as the door swung open slowly, making her step back a bit to avoid getting hit by it. "Oh, sorry, I didn't think anyone would be on the other side." The voice mad her focus her eyes, and stare at a tall blue haired boy with glasses on his head stood in the doorway, a thick folder tucked away under his arm. "Shouldn't you be in your class by now?"

Staring at the boy as if she hadn't heard his question, Taiko looked away from him as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath to calm down. "No, I forgot something before, I have to go get it..." Trailing of, she blushed as she noticed where he eyes had moved to as she spoke, her hands pulled her ruined uniform together in a rush.

At the action, the boy nearly dropped the folder as his head snapped up, a blush forming on his cheeks. "No, I wasn't, I just noticed your jacket."

"Just forget it." Taiko muttered out as all she wanted too do at the moment, was to get away from him, and anyone else at the school, for good. "It's..."

"Wait." Speaking out in a concerned and warm tone, the boy handed over the folder to her, as his eyes grew serious behind the glasses. "Hold this for a moment will you." Seeing her confused eyes as she took the folder from him, he gave a small grin as he began to unbutton his own jacket, ignoring the mixture of panic and fear on her face as she watched him do it. Finally pulling it off, he smiled as he took the folder from her. "Here, to replace you own jacket."

Staring at the boy, and finally down at the jacket, Taiko reached out a hand in a hesitant pace, finally closing her fingers around the collar of it, nearly dropping it as the boy let go of it. "Why?"

Smiling a bit at her question, the boy took a few steps in through the door, turning his head to face her, he grinned a bit at her. "Just because it's the right thing to do." Smiling a bit, he reached out to open the door into the file room. "You can always return it to me when your own has been fixed, just ask at the office for a Joe Kido."

Staring after him as the door closed, Taiko held onto the jacket in a slightly tense manner as she wondered what that had been all about, and how she could be so unlucky. "Joe Kido, great, figures I would keep running into the people I should keep away from."

Holding up the jacket, she shrugged a bit and put it on instead of her own ruined one, buttoning it up as she gave a small smile at it all. Then frowning as she pulled open the door and left, not really wanting to stay at the school anymore.

------------------

The city building rose up around her as she made her way down the street, taking care to avoid the glances people shot at her when they noticed the type of uniform she was wearing. Turning a corner, Taiko grinned as she spotted one way of escaping from the people's attention and give her a few moments of fun as well.

Jamming her hand into her pants pocket, she pulled out her wallet and grinned, it was time to enjoy the rest of the day, and just forget her worries for a short while. Stepping up to the glass door, she grinned like a little kid as she stepped into the noisy interior of the arcade.

Pulling out lone of her few remaining yen bills, she slapped it down on the desk and smirked as the manager handed her over a fist full of tokens in exchange. "Thanks."

Grinning as she turned around to face the games, she froze as she was faced with just to many games she had been waiting to try for weeks, that she was now having trouble choosing one.

Moving down between the games, she turned her head and stared at a young blond haired boy and a girl with long purple hair were busy playing some SNK fighting game. Stepping a bit closer, she stared at them trying to beat the other ones character before the time limit ran out.

Then her attention was pulled away as a racing game loudly beeped near her, her eyes getting drawn to the screen as she walked over and dropped into the seat, popping one token into it and getting ready to spend some quality time doing one of her favorite things.

45 minutes and a lot of gaming later, Taiko yawned as she stepped back out the door, her eyes moving to check the store clocks as she passed them. "Three hours before Dad gets home." Humming a bit to pass the time, she continued to walk down the street with her hand pushed into her pants pockets in a relaxed way.

Turning around the next corner, she stared at the large building before her, the Mall towering up as she began to walk closer to it. If nothing else, it might help kill some time if she looked through it, she hadn't gotten much of a chance for it the other day.

Pushing past a few elder people, she grinned as she noticed the mall movie theater, that place would help her spend a lot of time, if she could afford it that was. Pulling out her wallet again, she counted the remains of her cash and nodded to herself. Then she lifted her head and began to go over the list of movies.

Stepping up to the counter, Taiko smiled as the lady behind the glass turned to look at her. "Hi, I would like one ticket for the next showing in cinema 10."

The lady nodded as she turned her eyes downwards and began to type on her computer, accepting Taiko's money as she looked up again, a smile on her face as she handed over the ticket. "Here you go, enjoy the show."

"I'll try." Waving her hand a bit, Taiko grinned as she walked further into the movie theater, whistling a bit as she passed a group of people talking in a corner. "27 more minutes before the movie starts, I can handle that." Shooting a look back at the group in the corner to find them staring at her in a shocked way, she groaned a bit. "Then again, maybe I should look for some extra chest binding now that I'm here anyway."

Walking back out of the movie theater, Taiko sighed a bit as she pushed her hands into her pockets again and began to head off towards the local super market. At least they would have something she could use as chest bindings in that place.

20 Minutes later and looking a lot more tense, Taichi Kamiya stepped out of the mall bathroom, having shot several looks in both directions to make sure no one was around to see him step out of the girls bathroom. "Great, now, it's off to my action movie."

------------------

Walking into the mall, Matt sighed as Mimi raced off towards the clothes store almost at once, dragging his girl friend behind her. Leaving him all alone to wander around the rather large building, until they needed him to carry their bags at least. "I need more male friends."

"Right big brother, and next you going to tell me you're giving up on your dream to play in a rock band."

Turning around with a huff, Matt eyes glinting as he took in the almost splitting image of himself leaning against the wall outside of a cafe. "TK, what are you doing here?" Matt asked with a big grin on his face as he walked closer to the other boy.

Shrugging a bit as he pushed off form the wall, TK grinned as he pushed back his front hair. "I'm supposed to be meeting with Kari here, but I forgot what cafe it was." The last was added as TK followed his brother towards a nearby bench to sit on while they talked. "And you Matt, why are you here?"

Sitting down on the bench, matt didn't answer right away as he stared at the people walking past them. "Mimi and Sora wanted to come here and... Well.."

TK grinned a bit at the embarrassed tone of his brother. "You couldn't say no to any of them." Smirking a bit at his brother's annoyed snort, TK shook his head. "You're far to friendly Matt, maybe you should try and stand up to them every now and then."

Giving his brother the look at his comment, Matt shook his head and pattered TK's shoulder. "Just you wait TK, one day it you will be facing this problem."

Frowning at his brother's tone, TK leaned back on the bench with a tired look on his face. "Maybe, but if I can't find where I'm supposed to meet Kari with in the next hour, she'll kill me tomorrow."

Grinning a bit at TK tone of voice, Matt slowly stood up and yawned a bit. "Guess you better try and get a hold of her then."

"Yeah." TK muttered out as he stood up as well, one hand rubbing the back of his head as he pulled out a cell phone form the back pocket of his pants. "One problem though, my cell's dead."

Giving his little brother a sly grin, Matt slowly stood up and pulled out his own cell phone. "Well, I could let you borrow mine, but what would you be willing to do for it?"

Growling at his brother's threat, Matt grinned as he tossed the phone over to his little brother. "Calm down TK, just remember, don't use up all the battery on it talking with your girlfriend." Turning his head at TK's death glare, Matt smirked as he stared off into the mall, freezing a bit as he stared at something he hadn't expected to see there. "Taichi?"

Looking up from the cell phone with a confused stare on his face at what he brother had said, TK stared confused at the blond haired boy. "What?"

The blond haired boy didn't answer the question as he was to busy to stare at the messy haired boy stepping out of the movie theater. "I got to go."

"Matt?" Standing up as he brother almost jumped up, TK stared after the blond haired boy as he took off towards the movie theater. "Matt, what's wrong?"

Still not getting an answer, TK stared down at the cell phone and closed it with a sigh. "You have better have a good reason for this brother." Starting to go after the blond haired boy, he froze as he felt someone grab his shoulder and hold him back.

Turning his head, he blinked when he spotted Sora standing behidn him, her hand on his shoulder as she stared at the older blond haired boy walk off towards the other end of the mall. "Sora, what's wrong?."

Shaking herself out of her thoughts, Sora stared down at TK as her eyes narrowed. "TK, what was it Matt said just a minute ago?"

Feeling even more left out, TK shrugged as he watched Sora take off as well, her pace a bit faster then Matt's. Turning his head downwards, he looked at the cell phone with a tired expression. "Sorry Kari, but I think this is more important."

------------------

Stepping out of the movie theater, Taichi sighed as he felt like kicking something. The movie had a good one; lots of action and foul langue, he just hadn't been able to concentrate on it at all. The reason was simple; he had far to many things on his mind to worry about at the moment.

Staring down at the ground, he smirked a bit as he briefly wondered how the others were taking his sudden absence from the school. Before a frown formed at the memory of them stumbling into him when he had been Taiko instead of Taichi, it was getting harder to hide it, but he had too, if not.

"Taichi!" Matt's voice cut through the air all of a sudden.

Snapping his head around, Taichi nearly fell over as he spotted a small group heading towards him, he could recognize Matt, Sora and what looked like a younger version of the blond haired boy. "No, what are they doing here." Stepping back, he grimaced before taking off as well.

"Come on Taichi, we just want to talk with you." Sora's voice came just a loudly as Matt's had.

Shooting a quick look over his shoulder, Taichi cursed as they were gaining on him, slowly but surely. Turning his head to the side, the messy haired boy smirked as he suddenly turned aroudn a display stand to get out of their view, before running down the first side corridor he found. Freezing when he noticed it was a dead end. "No."

"What's wrong?"

Once more finding he nearly gaining a whiplash from turning his head to fast, Tai froze when he spotted a young girl with short light brown hair standing in the doorway to the girl's bathroom. "Hey, are you okay?"

Shaking himself out of his puzzlement over the girl's question, Taichi quickly looked back down the corridor and bleached when he spotted Matt and Sora standing down there, looking in the other direction as they tired to locate him. "I... I..."

Turning her head, the girl blinked when she spotted the blond haired boy and orange haired girl down there. "Are you in some kind of trouble, you're not a thief are you?"

"No, I'm just..." Taichi started saying as he tried to think of a way to get out this new mess he had just found himself in, and a way to avoid getting spotted by Matt and Sora.

The girl in the meantime had returned her attention to him as a small smile spread over her face. "Are you trying to hide from them?"

Looking even more embarrassed, Taichi nodded as he looked down at Sora and Matt who had stared to go in a different direction, Sora heading towards the other end of the mall while Matt turned to face their direction, stopping only as he noticed someone with almost as messy a hairstyle as Taichi standing near a store in another direction. "Look, I need to get away, I just have to."

Stepping out of the way, the girl smiled as she pointed at the door to the girl's bathroom. "Go hide in there, no one else is inside of it."

Not waiting to even debate it with her, Taichi nearly jumped inside the room as Matt had resuemed turning around. "Thanks."

The girl shrugged and smiled a bit as she took a step down the corridor, stopping as she notice dthe blond haired boy looking at her. "Can I help you?"

Matt stared at her for a few seconds before he sighed. "I don't suppose you have seen a boy my height with a very messy hair style?"

The girl stared at him for a few seconds, before she nodded. "I have, he hid himself in the bathroom." Smiling a bit as the blond haired boy, she suddenly grinned a bit. "You know, you look a lot like someone I know."

At her words, matt face her completed as he felt tried to remember what she had said right after the bit about Taichi, and failing rather badly. "In the bathroom you say, thanks a lot for the help." Moving past her, Matt reached out a hand and pushed open the door into the men's bathroom just across form the girl's bathroom.

As soon as the door had closed behind the blond haired boy, Taichi snuck out of the girl bathroom and moved past him, setting a course for the more open part of the mall, and the exits. "I really hate my life at times like these."

"Really?"

Spinning around on the spot, Taichi stared at the younger brown haired girl looking at him from the corner of the corridor opening, her eyes narrowed a bit with a small bit of laughter as she began to walk over towards him. "Sorry, did I scare you again?"

Giving her a half smile back, Tai finally grinned and slowly began to walk down the mall with her. "A little, I haven't really had a good day so far." Giving her a sheepish smile as he added in the last bit, Taichi turned his head to avoid her question glance. "By the way, thanks for your help."

The girl giggled a bit at the way he acted, taking a second to push her small purse strap back up on her shoulder as she moved to keep up with him. "You're welcome, but really, why were those two after you?"

"I'm not sure, most likely something I did at school." Taichi half lied, as he didn't look at her, but rather stared around the mall to spot Matt or Sora in time if they showed up again. "Anyway, thank you again for the help." Turning around, Taichi stopped as he felt the girl grab his arm softly, holding it and him back. "Uh, is there something wrong?"

Shaking her head again, the brown haired girl smiled a bit as she removed her hand form his sleeve. "No, sorry." at her words, the messy haired boy turned his head away from her and got ready to leave again as her hand released the sleeve of his jacket. "Wait, really, the is one thing."

Hearing an internal warning bell go off at the tone of her voice, Taichi silently debated if he should run away from her as well, but then, deciding against it as it wouldn't be nice to her at all. Beside, he owed her for helping him before, and the least he could do, was hear what she wanted. "Yeah?"

"Would you..." The brown haired girl started as she lifted her up from staring at the floor. "... Like to join me?" At the question, she turned her head away, trying to hide the blush on her face from him.

Staring at her in disbelief, Taichi shook his head as a dark cloud formed over him as yet again, the one thing he really didn't want to face again, happened to him anyway. "Join you?" Dreading her answer, he still asked her the one thing he shouldn't have done.

Still not looking at him, the girl smiled as she as lifted up a hand and pointed out the corridor and across the main part of thee mall, and right at the doors leading into the Coffee house. "Just for a little while, I was supposed to meet someone, but he didn't show, and I don't want to have come to this place for nothing."

Feeling a bit more relaxed, but not completely out of trouble yet, Taichi finally nodded a bit as he looked at her. "Fine, but not too long, I can't let them find me."

"Okay." The voice was a bit subdued as she replied, then she grinned and grabbed his hand, dragging him towards the coffee house with a big grin on her face. "By the way, what's your name?"

Frowning a bit, Taichi, answered her while he was busy trying to remain as hidden as he could, something that was rather hard when a young girl was dragging him towards a coffee shop in the middle of a rather large mall. "Taichi, Taichi Kamiya."

Pushing open the door, the girl turned her head to face him. "Taichi huh? I'm Hikari Yagami, but you can call me Kari."

Taichi smiled a bit at her greeting. "Okay, and just call me Tai okay"

Just a bit down the mall, TK eyes smoldered with anger as he spotted his Kari talking with some older messy haired boy like they were old friends, while he had to struggle for several weeks just to get her to agree to a little date, and now it seemed that all someone else had to do was just talk to her to get the same thing. The fact that the messy haired boy was the one his brother had looked for complete passed by him as he thought about throwing his cell phone down onto the ground in anger.

Kari nodded at his words as she slowly turned her head to stare around the coffee shop with a small smile on her mouth as she turned her attention back to Taichi. "We didn't have a place like this back home."

Looking up from the table surface as she chose to speak, Taichi stared at her with a bit of puzzlement in his eyes. "You've never been in a coffee house before?" Then he groaned at the level of surprise he had spoken that with. "I didn't mean it that way, I just..."

"I know." Kari smiled a bit sadly as she broke into the middle of his apology. "I'm just not used to being in a big city like this yet." The last was spoken with a bit of longing in her voice as she started to move her finger in a circle on the table.

Feeling a bit more relaxed and sympathetic, Taichi smiled as he looked at her. "Just moved into town then?"

Kari nodded again as she held her head up with the other hand. "Not really, we been in Tokyo for around a month now."

"Oh." Taichi replied as he took a few seconds to stare at the menu card to see if he could afford anything in the place at all after his unprepared shopping trip and movie expenses. "I moved here a few days ago, from the Nerima district."

Kari looked up at the name of his former district with a small smile on her face. "Really, is it as crazy over there as they say it is?"

Looking a bit strained at the words, Taichi shook his head and nodded. "Yeah, that place could really compete with Juuban in the weirdness factor."

Shrugging a bit, Kari gave a small laugh at the grin on the messy haired boy's face. "So, I guess you're glad to be out of that district huh?"

"Not really." Taichi replied as he turned to see a waitress heading towards them, long purple hair and rather large round glasses making her stand out from the others in the place. "Left my best friends behind when I moved here." The last part of the sentence took on a sad note as he spoke, something, which he saw Kari notice as her sudden sympathetic look.

Opening her mouth to ask him something, Kari stopped when she noticed the purple haired girl stop at their table. "Miyako!"

Miyako grinned a bit at the brown haired girl as she pulled out a note pad from her pocket and a pencil from another one of her pockets. "Hi Kari." Then she looked over at Taichi and blinked her eyes a bit. "Who's he, I thought you were going out with TK? Not that he's any less of a hunk to look at then the blond boy."

Growing a bit red in the face at Miyako's comment, Kari quickly looked over to Taichi to see him staring at the purple haired girl with a barely readable expression on his face. "I'm just here to have a cup of coffee with him, as a friend."

"Right." Miyako countered with a sly look on her face. "And just what happened to TK?" Her face taking on a bit of a sad look, Kari simply stared down at the table without answering Miyako's question. "I'm sorry, would you like me to try and see if I can get into contact with him?"

Kari gave a small smile as she shook her head. "No, I have my cell with me, I'll try and phone him again to find out what's keeping him."

Miyako nodded and turned her attention back to Taichi. "So, who are you then?"

Staring her for a full second at her rather blunt approach. Taichi slowly looked over at Kari to see an embarrassed expression on her face again. "Taichi, I'm..."

"A friend, and nothing more." Kari added in as she shot a dark glare at the giggling Miyako who once again shot her a sly grin. "Now if it's not too much, I want a glass of ice tea, Miyako."

Still giggling a bit as she wrote down the order, Miyako turned her attention to Taichi. "And you Taichi, what would you like?"

Blinking his eyes, Taichi shook his head and stared at the menu one more time. "Uh, just a cup of black coffee."

"Right." Miyako replied as she wrote it on her note pad. "Anything you want in that coffee, Cream, Sugar, Milk?"

"No thanks." Taichi replied as she stared out the window of the coffee shop. "I like my coffee with nothing in it."

Miyako nodded at the comment and put her pencil away. "So, one Ice tea and one black coffee with nothing in it." Miyako looked to at them to see if she had gotten it right and smiled as she turned around. "So, separate bills or is one of you paying for the other?"

"Miyako." Kari hissed out the name as she seemed to be wondering just how much trouble she would be in, if she smacked the elder girl with her purse.

Taichi stared after the giggling purple haired girl as she left the table to bring back their orders. "Strange girl." As he spoke, he looked over at Kari and gave a small smile. "So, I was telling you about moving here." Taichi smiled a bit at her nod, before briefly wondering why he was telling her stuff like that, when he had barely even dared to talk to Jun and Davis about anything.

Kari sighed a bit as she spotted the brief look on uncertainty that passed through those brown eyes. "It's okay, you don't have to tell me if you don't feel like it."

Shaking his head at her comment, Taichi gave her a reassuring smile. "It not that, I was just wondering why I find it so easy to talk with you." Seeing her sudden embarrassed look, he grinned a bit. "I'm normally not so eager to talk about my life."

"Oh." Looking a bit puzzled at his comment, Kari smiled a bit as she saw Miyako make her way back with her ice tea, a sly smile on her face as she placed it before her. "Thanks."

Miyako nodded a bit at Kari and turned to face Tai. "Your coffee will be ready in a while." Then her eyes narrowed in a playful manner as she moved her head to look a bit at Kari who where sipping her ice tea. "So, are you two getting along okay?"

Kari chocked a bit on her ice tea at the way the purple haired girl had spoken those words, her eyes flashing a bit as she placed her glass on the table. "Miyako." Kari hissed out the name as she looked over at Tai. "He's just a friend."

"She's right." Taichi added as he looked up at her. "We're just friends, nothing more." Looking at the purple haired girl as she grinned, he felt like shaking his head. "Look, think you can make my coffee one to go, I need to be home in a few hours." Miyako nodded with a sudden strained look on her face as she shot a quick look over at Kari before walking back towards the register.

Looking over at Kari, Taichi noticed a slightly sad look on her face. "It's my turn to cook dinner tonight. And I hadn't really expected to be invited to a place like this." Feeling a bit sadder as he saw her, give him a fake smile while poking the table, he sighed a bit. "Look, I'm really sorry, but my dad tends to overreact if I'm not home on time and..."

Looking up at him, Kari nodded and followed him with her eyes as he stood up. "It's okay, I don't want to keep you here if you don't want to."

"No, it's not a problem, it was nice talking with you." Taichi answered her as he shot a quick look out into the mall to see if anyone he knew was standing outside of it, placing the last money he had on the table. "Look, Sorry about this, and take care."

"Yeah you too." Kari muttered out as the messy haired boy left the shop. Her eyes moving over to see Miyako staring back her, her mouth forming some words she had no trouble guessing. "Yeah, I think he was a little weird as well, but he seems to be nice enough." She replied in the same manner.

Giggling at the brown haired girl's words. Miyako slowly lifted up a hand and placed it on Kari's shoulder. "Cheer up, you still have TK right?" Giggling a bit louder, Miyako ducked the hand that tried to hit in the side while she moved over towards a new costumer. "We'll talk some more later, right Kari?"

Nodding, Kari grabbed her ice tea and started to drink it. Shooting a quick look out into the mall in time to see the messy haired boy heading towards the exit. "Nice, but strange, too strange. Maybe I should try to reach TK one more time." As she spoke to herself, she had already pulled out her cell and begun to punch in the number for the blond haired boy.

------------------

Leaning on the wall just outside the apartment to catch his breath, Taichi took a few deep, painful breaths as he pulled out the door key and held it up. "Finally." Turning around and unlocking the door, he smiled a bit as he stepped into the hallway. "Home, sweet home."

Kicking open the door into his room, Taichi stumbled into it and dropped his keys on the table, running a hand through his hair as he sat down a this table. "Can this day get any more rotten then it already is?" he mumbled out as he began to think about the event he had just been through, freezing as he remembered forgetting his school bag back in class. "Great."

Sitting up in the chair, he looked down at his uniform jacket, or rather that Joe guys jacket since his own was currently broken, unbuttoning the top part of it as he stood up, briefly wondering what time his old man would be coming home, and what he should expect if he was angry again. Reaching out a hand to open his closet and pull out a shirt, he stopped when he picked up the sound of some ringing the doorbell. "Now what."

Feeling a bit angrier then he should, the messy haired boy turned around and stalked out to the front door, grabbing the handle before pulling so hard on it that the person outside gave a small yelp hen the door was yanked open. "What is it?!"

Staring at the familiar person before him with his best, most annoyed expression as he fired off the rather rude question. Taichi groaned as his day took another deep fall. The cinnamon haired girl was someone he really didn't want to see right now, and judging from her annoyed expression, she felt the same way.

Pulling out the school bag that Matt had insisted she bring home, so she could give it to the messy haired boy since they were neighbors. "Here." Pushing the said object into his chest, she blinked as she noticed him wince a bit. "Save your thanks, Matt asked me to give it too you, that's all." Turning around, she stopped and looked back at him as a small nagging feeling went through her head. "Hey, do you know someone called Taiko by the way? She kind of looks like..." Mimi trailed off as her eyes stared at his chest bindings, or more precisely the two bumps they were trying to hide.

Grabbing the school bag and pulling it down to his side, Taichi snorted as he looked at the cinnamon haired girl, freezing a bit as he noticed her eyes lock onto his chest with a puzzled expression at first then a small look of shock spread when she lifted her head up to his face with a suddenly demanding expression. "It's not what you think." Resulting in him crying out the first thing he could think off, most likely ruining every chance he had to defuse the situation.

Looking up at him, Mimi eyes were filled with a bit of puzzlement before they turned deadly serious. "Oh yeah, then tell me what it really is, Taiko." The name was hissed out as Mimi crossed her arms, daring him to give her a lie for an answer.

TBC: She knows.

AN: Okay, let me start by saying that there will be no bincest/b in this story, none at all. Even if that scene in the coffee house might seem to be the way the story is headed, it is not going to end up like that at all.

Also, parts of it has a... Too rushed feeling to it in my opinion.

Feel like drawing Taiko. If you do and have the time, send it to me and I'll post it on my site as a thank you complete with the name of who made the drawing.


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